Forbidden love
by cwsenior09
Summary: When two people come together it can be love, devastation or a mix of both. This story will follow the evolution of Esdeath x Tatsumi and all that it means. Will Tatsumi be able to move on from everything horrible that's happened and forgive or will Esdeath destroy whats left of a broken heart or will she find a way to mend it in her own way.
1. Chapter 1

**SOOOOO this is my first fan fic in a very long while but I got a massive amount of inspiration for this couple after reading another story and I had to keep it going. I will try to get a chapter out at least once a month. Give me your opinions as they will only help me grow as a writer but could possibly spark more ideas on how I get to the final chapter in my mind.**

 **As of right now there are no lemons in this story but that could change later.**

The Beginning.

The night was a bitterly cold night, the northern boarder was experience one of it's most harshest winters in recent history. The winds were blowing like crazy making

everything it touched freeze or shiver uncontrollably until death wasn't just another passing figure in the night. Despite all of this there was one human who enjoyed the

challenge, the temptation of death and battled it without breaking so much as a sweat, daring it to come for her. Relishing in the way the wind would at times caress her skin

attempting to punish, and other times completely avoid her like it sensed she was the dominating force here and not the other way around.

Walking out into a large clearing that was surrounded by trees on all sides stood the General of the Imperial army, the Ice Queen herself Esdeath. It was moments like this

she wanted to enjoy the silence away from all the noise of the capital or the battle that just ended. Letting her razor sharp senses and instincts collect back into them selves,

not that she minded any of it but at times she just wished to smell the fresh air and let her senses rage free without being bombarded by city sounds or the smell of death

and noises that would make any normal human psyche crash into itself.

Esdeath paused in the clearing for a little awhile letting her men enjoy them selves on the town they raided, realizing that once again she was left unsatisfied by the outcome.

The battle was over before it began really, the rebel army that was in the area was completely caught unaware that they were being tracked by Esdeath and her army and by

the time they managed to get the alarm off, her army had already descended on the town decimating everything and everyone in its path, no one was safe. she let her men

take care of everything this time not really bothering with the fight, other then cutting the heads off a few soldiers that tried to swarm her, she was mainly waiting for the

strongest to appear in the battle before she decided to step in, hoping that at least he would give her the entertainment she desired, but she wasn't expecting much when

she saw who that man would be.

For the most part she was disappointed in the challenger that had the biggest balls to step up to her, but she had given him her full attention hoping for something more then

what she fully expecting to receive. Recalling the way his face looked as she easily subdued him brought a small grin to her face.

* * *

Esdeath just stood there looking down at the man at her feet, his left arm severed at the elbow and his right arm completely facing the other direction with a couple of the

bones completely piercing through the skin.

"Fuck you, Ice Bitch." the man yelled at her, spit flying out of his now mostly toothless face landing on the front of her white generals uniform.

She looked down at him with disinterest, but as she noticed the clear rebellious defiance on his face a small smile broke through making him blink up at her suddenly fearful

as she let loose her aura that screamed of death and pain.

"Looks like you need to be taught a further lesson on how to speak to those clearly stronger then you" she said reaching down to grab him by the throat and lifting him up

until his toes touched the snow.

The man sensing this might be his only chance at inflicting harm on the Ice queen struck out with his boat intending to hit her in the side.

Esdeath felt the subtle shift in the mans muscles as soon as she lifted him up, noticing how his leg tensed even before he had made the conscious decision to strike. Letting

him get his hopes up she let him strike her in the side with his boat, barely noticing the hit only raising her eyebrow, the only sign she gave the man that she was aware of

what he was doing, never leaving eye contact with him.

"Now now, what do you think that was going to accomplish?" she said as she tightened her grip on the mans throat. Looking towards one of her soldiers she nodded and

watched the man run to one of the horses holding her supplies.

Looking at the now blue face she had in her hand she leaned in until her mouth was just inches from his ear and said in a voice only he could hear. "I hope you can at least

entertain me a little more this time, but I doubt you will, if you do I will give you a reward." letting her smile grow wider as she pulled back.

The soldier holding her supplies ran up to her and handed her a black leather covered bag that looked like it had been used quite a lot. It had her teigu's symbol etched into

the black leather.

Esdeath looked past the purple mans left shoulder and saw a small hut and decided that it would due for what she had planned next. Keeping the smile plastered on her face

she headed over to the hut shutting the door behind her with her foot. Her men knew not to bother her while she was having her fun, but that didn't stop them from getting

as close as they dared in hopes of maybe getting a peek at the carnage she was about to unleash on the rebel man through side holes in the hut.

The already noisy battle torn town was soon drowned out by the screams of the man locked in the hut with the Ice Queen.

* * *

Opening her eyes once again after reflecting on the most resent battle she took a couple steps forward until she was in the middle of the snowy clearing. Tapping into a small

part of herself she lifted her hand and gave a silent command and watched as a solid ice figure started to form from nothing. Once her creation was completed she looked at

her handy work and noticed that she must have subconsciously created the same person she had been dreaming about for the past month. Medium height, strong build with

slightly shaggy hair, the face was blank as she couldn't really recall specific details, but the figure left a feeling of loneliness in her all the same, something she was completely

not used to feeling. The only time she ever really felt emotions was when she was fighting or in the torture chambers trying out ideas she had on her victims. Something in

her wanted more, more then what she had, more then what she was already intimately experienced with. It wanted the stronger emotions she sometimes saw from the

couples walking the streets in the capital, or when they returned home and she saw one of her soldiers running to his loved one.

Her gaze returned back to the solid ice figure in front of her and decided she wanted to experience love.

Esdeath was many things but she was always honest with her self and her desires, and right now she desired to experience love and all that it meant. Hoping that she would

have more success in this venture then she did with trying to find an opponent that didn't utterly bore her in a fight.

Feeling resolute in her desire she started to think about what she demanded from a partner and his qualities. Focusing on the ice figure in front of her she started to come up

with requirements, but what stood out in her mind was he had to have a innocent smile.

Dismissing the ice figure she turned around to head back the way she came, holding a hand up to her cap as a gust of wind she wondered why she kept having dreams of a

man with shaggy brown hair and a beautiful smile that made her heart flutter every time she recalled it.

Returning back to town she went in search of one of her officer to inform him they were to start preparing for departure back to the capital. She completed her mission when

she killed the commander leading the rebel forces through these parts. She started to turn away so she could retrieve her dragon, but stopped when a soldier called out to

her.

"General, what should we do with the hostages?"

Eyebrows furrowing slightly she looked at the man and noticed he wasn't one of her regular men.

"Kill them, that's what you do. We don't let those who are to weak to fight live, and we certainly don't show them mercy. Weakness only breeds weakness and it should be

stopped at its core." Esdeath said turning away again.

"But General they surrendered, we should take a couple with us." The man said not realizing he was speaking back to the strongest woman this generation has every seen.

Letting out a sigh, she flicked her wrist and heard a soft thump behind her, disobedience was not tolerated and she expected the men who followed her to obey her command

without question. Turning her head as she walked out of the town towards her pet, she told another one of her men to start getting ready for departure. Not sparing the dead

soldiers body another thought. The only time she ever considered being merciful to her enemies was when she was given some sort of challenge from them, and even then

her mercy was giving them a swift death and not playing with them before she killed them.

Letting her dominating aura out she called out to her dragon and waited patiently for him to return to her. Wraith was her favorite pet because he never fully submitted to her

will for long and she enjoyed the game of making him bend to her without breaking him completely. She was sure that eventually she would have to kill the animal but until

then she would have her small amount of fun because he seemed to enjoy the battle of wills too.

With a gush of wind he settled down a few yards away from her and huffed in her direction, turning his gaze away from her in a show of disobedience. Chuckling as she

reached him she knew why he was showing this rare display.

"Come on don't be like that, you know I had to keep you out of the fight. You kill everyone and leave nothing left for me, and we cant have that." She gave the black scales

on his shoulder a punch and stared at him until he turned his big head and breathed heavily covering her in a drift of snow he blew up from his nose.

"So its going to be like that huh." Giving him a toothy grin she clapped her hands forward and commanded a big ball of snow and ice to drop on his head.

huffing at her again she could have swore she saw his eyes narrow as he lowered his head in obedience and let her mount him, nuzzling her from behind as she did.

Finally seated on the dragon she direct him towards the Imperial capital, once again thinking about her decision to try her hand at love. "He has to have a pure and innocent

smile on his face."

* * *

 **Authors Note:**

 **This is just the start. I will be getting into much more detail as I progress through the story with these two. Bare with me, I will be fun for all involved.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Greetings reader, I am going to try to get the ball rolling in this chapter and get things started.**

 **Side note: I feel like I have to listen to "Sweet but Psycho" - Ava Max when writing about Esdeath...it just seems fitting. Give it a listen to and tell me you don't feel that this song doesn't connect amazingly to our crazy general.**

The start of something dangerous

The time it took to get back to the capital was cut in half as she soared through the air on top of Wraith, she watched as the landscape turned from snow to that of bright green grass and rolling hills. Having been born in the harsh winter climates of the north and then acquiring her teigu, Esdeath didn't really feel the cold as others might; the heat of summer however, was easily dealt with by regulating her internal body temperature.

Leaning back on one of Wraiths scales Esdeath brought out her worn writing journal and began to make a list of her requirement for what she expected in a lover. She would not accept anything less and expected this to be bit of a tedious endeavor since she was being picky, but would not settle for anything less then what she wanted.

Smiling a little to herself as she watched the capital draw closer she directed Wraith to the area that was meant specifically for him, far enough away from the citizen's that he wouldn't terrorize them yet close enough that he would feel/hear her call to him when she was wanted him. Not that she really cared if he ate a few people, but it wouldn't be good for PR and she being a general and all had to give a certain amount of protection to the empires citizens.

Hopping off Wraith she walked over to a small barn that housed the sheep she used to feed him. She released a few from the paddock so that he could eat. Watching as the sheep blissfully walked out of the gate, they froze immediately upon noticing Wraiths watchful hungry gaze upon them, bleating their concerns.

Grinning Esdeath picked up one of the sheep and heaved it into the air and watched as Wraith snatched it out of the air and chomped down. Huffing in delight as all the sheep scattered and starting running away from him, giving him the chase he desired.

Laughing she started to walk towards the empires front gates and was met by a courier. Kneeling and bowing his head deeply.

"I have a message for you general, from the prim minister." he said

She waited a few minutes for the man to continue but when he didn't she noticed the small trembling of his hands and the sweat dripping down his temple.

"Well, what is it." she said slightly amused looking down at the man, enjoying the discomfort he was experiencing in front of her.

Seeming to forget why he was kneeling in front of the most feared person in the empire, the man kept silent trying to remember why he signed up for this in the first place.

Tap, Tap, Tap. The toe of her boot lifted up and set back down. Tap.

"I hope your not playing some game in making me wait, and as much as I enjoy watching you piss your self and tremble, I have more important things to do then stand here and my patience is deserting me at an alarming rate. So if you enjoy having eyes to look out of and limps to move around on I suggest you start talking." Esdeath said with a raised eyebrow but otherwise blank expression.

Coming back to his sense's and remembering his message he blurted it out as fast as he could without pause while keeping his eyes trained on her feet.

"General the prime minister has instructed me to tell you he wants to meet you in the great hall when you have returned from your mission up north." The man breathed out heavily, thankful he was able to complete his mission with his head still attached to its shoulders.

"Your dismissed soldier." Esdeath said and walked around him. She wouldn't discipline the man for being nervous around her and making her wait as his nerves got the better of him. She knew the effect she had on the low ranking officers and soldiers and even some of the other generals. She gloried in her power and never hesitated in showing that she was the alpha and dared anyone to challenge her. The last man to challenge her to battle to show off his strength was a newly promoted general with a big ego. The fight took less then a minute as Esdeath was in a rather bad mood that day and went straight for the points on his body that would cripple him. Destroying the knee of his dominate leg and shattering both of his hip bones, then finished it with well placed strikes and surgically precise hits on his spine, ensuring he would never move around as a normal man again.

That display of overwhelming power and ruthlessness ensured that no one wanted to challenged her again to her displeasure. She saw it as weeding out the weak, for she wasn't even giving the newly ranked general a 10th of her true strength, and not even activating her teigu. It was her job as a general to protect and crush the empires enemies and if that meant she had to at times remove the trash from within the military so be it. She would never respect someone who couldn't even last a minute against her in a fight, let alone let themselves be permanently crippled.

Reaching the palace after walking through the part of town that made up the market district of the capital, Esdeath was greeted with congratulations on her swift victory from the nobles and politicians wishing to get on her good side, hoping to gain what ever it was they wished from the empires strongest general. Esdeath for the most part ignored everyone, but gave small nods to those she actually liked.

Coming up to the great hall that housed the throne room, she waited for the announcer to call her name and open the big ornamented doors. As the doors opened she noticed the room was emptier then it normally was. The room normally filled to capacity with fat politicians or soldiers coming and going was mainly filled with the royal guards, and the odd servants running to and from the kitchens bringing the prime minister his assortment of meats and drinks.

"Ahh, general its good to see you again. I hope your mission was a great success?." The prime minister said chewing on an unknown animals legs, his pot belly jiggling as he took a few steps forward to stand next to the emperor.

kneeling down and taking her cap off to sit it down next to her, Esdeath bowed her head and said. "Yes prim minster, my mission was a complete success and was finished just as fast as it started."

"Good to hear it general, I regret to tell you that your assistance is once again needed. I know you just returned from the battlefield but we are receiving reports of Night raids movements again. I would like for you to look into it and find out what they are planning, then squash them like the maggots they are." the prime minister said grabbing another piece of the animal he had on a plate next to him.

Looking up Esdeath smiled "It would be my pleasure, I have some of my men already investigating their movements and they should return soon enough. I will find them and kill every last one of them."

"Good." The emperor finally said leaning in his over large seat. "General Esdeath, you have served the empire greatly is there nothing you don't wish for in return. You only ever ask to be assigned to every battle that comes up, but is there anything else I can give you for your loyalty?"

"Yes your majesty, there is something I want now." smiling Esdeath reached into one of her shirt pockets and pulled out a neatly folded piece of paper and handed it to a servant to give to the emperor.

"I want to fall in love." Esdeath said looking at the emperor. "I have written up a list for you. I have very specific standards and I doubt there are many who can meet them."

The prime minster could barely control his surprise at what Esdeath was saying, but the emperor looked at her list with a slight blush on his face. Being only 12 years old the boy emperor didn't understand the concept of love that well, but he knew well enough what she was asking for.

"We shall try to find a man who meets these standards, perhaps we might find luck if we start looking at the military, surely there has to be someone who can come up to par with your standards." the emperor said.

"Thank you emperor, but I have spent time with almost all regiments and no one comes up in my mind worthy enough to be my lover. I wish to train this person to stand next to me and eventually be a general, and I have my doubts we will find this person already in the military's services." Esdeath said.

After a moment of thinking the boy emperor jumped up from his throne and proclaimed in a excited voice. "I got it! we will hold a tournament. We will offer a cash reward and maybe find some interesting prospects to look at."

"That's an excellent decision your majesty, its been awhile since we've held a tournament. It will be a nice change of pace to have some excitement brought to our arena again." The prime minister said.

Happy with his decision, the emperor sat back down on his throne and looked at Esdeath with excitement in his eyes. "General Esdeath I have one more thing I would like to discuss with you. The last person you requested has arrived and is waiting for you in the conference room on the first floor. All six of the men and women you sent for are very interesting and have their quirks, but I have no doubt they will serve you well. Have you decided on a name for your new squad yet?."

"I have your majesty. We shall be called the JAEGERS." Said Esdeath "I have nothing left to report your majesty, if you will allow it I would like to prepare for my meeting with my new squad."

"Yes, yes you are dismissed general, We shall set up the tournament to happen in three days time. That should be more then enough time for people to travel and to set up the event. We will have flyers drawn up immediately. " The emperor said.

With a nod Esdeath rose from her spot and turned around and started walking towards the part of the palace the held her chambers and her soldiers barracks. Thinking she should test her new squad before properly introducing herself to them. She wanted to see what kind of people they were and asses their ability to adapt to situations when thrown together.

Coming to a conclusion on how she would go about her test, she retrieved a mask from her room and started to make her way to the conference room.

Listening to the commotion inside, Esdeath used her strong perception skills to feel out the occupants in the room, while completely masking her own aura to the point that not even a top tier assassin would be able to find her if she didn't so choose to be found.

She noticed a couple things right from the start and one of those things was they wouldn't be expecting to see her because they were bickering among themselves. That would have to be dealt with. She would not tolerate petty bickering from her hand picked squad they were to be an elite task force. The other thing she noticed was that one man in particular seemed unsure of him self and unbelievable shy, the other man she picked up on gave off a confident aura that made her need to dominate rise up and put him in his place, The other two men in the room were a little harder to read, but she wasn't overly bothered with it. She would figure them out as soon as she got the chance to test their abilities.

Smashing the door open she walked into the room and all eyes turned to her. "Well what do I have here, intruders?." She said behind her mask.

A young man with short dark hair stood up and said "hey, we were told to assembl-" Esdeath immediately dashed forward and shot out her leg, connecting with the mans sternum sending him flying into the wall at the opposite end of the room.

Sensing a presence behind her she dodged to side as a metal arm flew past her left shoulder, she grabbed it and pivoted smashing the arm and the girl attached to it into the ceramic tile flooring, cracking it with the force of the impact while simultaneously blocking the dog with a block of ice. She noticed the dog was an oragnic teigu.

"You need to prepare better if you want a counter attack to work against someone whose stronger then you. You gave off your presence and intentions before you even made your attack." Esdeath said as she straighten up.

Knocking the blade in its sheath forward with her thumb, a smaller girl with black hair darted forward. Taking her blade out of its sheath, she slashed forward a couple of times. "Even if you are just playing around, I will not hold back."

Twisting to the side Esdeath felt her mask crack and gave a big grin. "You must be Kurome and that must be the Imperial arms Yatsufusa you are holding, very impressive. You managed to conceal your presence enough that you were able to get close enough to me to hit my mask." She let the rest of the mask fall away.

A sharp intake of breath came from the brawny looking man, the one she noticed was the extremely shy one. "General Esdeath!."

"Yes, from this little display I have gathered enough information about some of you that we shall start training tomorrow morning. Until then you are all dismissed to do as you please, I suggest you go familiarize your selves with each other and the palace. Be back here in the morning before the sun rises."

With that each new member walked out and prepared themselves for what was to come, having no idea that the road ahead of them was going to be more challenging then they ever thought it would be. Especially since Esdeath, the empires strongest general was going to be over seeing everything including training.

 **Authors Note: I hope this chapter finds you all well. This is the start of the story really. I'm trying to bring key pieces and intentions together quickly so that we can really get into the story. Comments both good and bad are appreciated as they will only help me move forward :)**


	3. chapter 3

**Hey there, Sooo it looks like I MIGHT be able to get these Chapters out a little more then once a month :P The plot still loosely of follows the main story line of both the anime/manga but don't worry its just taking some key bits to get everything going. I appreciate you reading this as its slowly turning into my imaginations child.**

 **As always leave a review and tell me what you think :) Until then may your blade stay sharp, but your mind stay sharper.**

Two days later at the Imperial Capital

Walking through the capital was always a struggle. Not because of the heat from the sun or even the people filling the streets up to capacity, it was mainly do to not understanding the layout. Some streets lead to dead ends while others just kept connecting to each other making it feel like you were walking in circles. At least that's what it felt like to Tatsumi. This wasn't his first time in the capital, but it was his first time roaming around the streets trying to complete a mission without a companion to guide him around.

 ***Flash Back***

"Tatsumi, our orders are to figure out the rotations and the routes the guards patrol for our mission to work." Leone said.

Looking at the busty blonde woman with curiosity; "Okay, but it could take some time to figure that out, with just the two of us it could take up to a week to properly document it all. Do we have that kind of time?." Tatsumi said while sitting down on the couch opposite of her.

Smirking Leone said "I already have a general idea of some of the smaller details, we have some people already stationed here gathering small bits of information for us. Human's are creatures of habit and they don't stray to far from what there used to doing. Leave the small details to me and you just figure out routes and times of patrolling."

"Got it sis, this shouldn't be to difficult, but damn this city is big. I wish Lubbock was here, he at least knows the layout of the city. Iv only been here once before and that was when I was trying to join the army." Tatsumi said thinking about the green haired assassin. "I'm guessing we will split up then so we can cover more ground. I think ill start in the market district."

Showing a white toothy smile that did nothing to hide the humor dancing in her eyes Leone said "Look at you maturing right before my eyes and thinking up strategy's like an adult. It makes me long to see what kind of man you will be in the future. Remember I marked you and you will be mine when the time comes." Laughing she winked at him causing a full on facial blush to spread across Tatsumi's face.

"I...I think I will get going then." Tatsumi stuttered out, while hastily getting up from his seat to head to the door of their temporary hideout. Turning around at the booming laughter coming from the blonde. "Don't get into to much trouble lover boy, we will meet back here at midnight."

 ***End Flash Back***

Thinking back to how Leone always managed to turn every situation into a joke, Tatsumi couldn't help but smile. He felt love for Leone sure but it was the kind of love you have for a sibling. The two of them had a strong bound and it only grew stronger the more they had to rely on each other to stay safe while traversing through the lions den that was the heart of the capital.

Looking around Tatsumi thought he was entering the market district as he came across more and more stalls of vendors trying to sell their wares.

Some of the stalls where smaller then others holding a smaller collection of trinkets and food. He could smell the fresh bread being pulled out of an oven somewhere, he heard the sound of metal striking metal as a blacksmith honed his craft, and he saw the way master sales men sold their wares gaining more money then what the items were worth.

*Grumble*

He looked down at his stomach and decided to go find that wonderful smell of fresh bread. Following his nose he couldn't help but feel like Leone a bit, and wondered how much her teigu "King of Beasts Transformation: Lionel" effected her outside of her transformations.

Coming up a large stall he bought a loaf of bread. Tearing it in half he wrapped the other half in a cloth and put it away for later. Walking around the streets he noticed a formation of 4 guards walking through the crowed and followed them while acting as a shopper, stopping here and there to look at vendors. He was so focused in trying to act normal that he found him self in a weapons shop. Loosing focus on his original goal he noticed the expert craftsmanship of the item on the wall and on tables set up in the front of the shop. He saw everything from small pocket daggers and brass knuckles to large halberds and everything in between, but what really caught his eye was a dark blue and light tan cloak that had metal woven through the fabric to add durability. The cloak was gorgeous and had a silver trim running along the edge and wove into an intricate design at the bottom.

"It's magnificent isn't it."

Startled out of his inspection of the cloak, Tatsumi turned to see a large man walk up to him. He was covered in soot and had small metal flakes covering his hair and beard and most of his shirt front.

Smiling with kind eyes the man took the cloak off the hook it was hanging on. "Try it on, its made from the finest materials I could find and the metal is as durable as any steel sword even with it being as fine as it is."

Eye's widening slightly Tatsumi took Incursio off his back and shrugged out of his worn and dirty cloak.

Handing the cloak to the smaller boy his smile grew even bigger as he noticed the cloak fit him perfectly with some extra room as the boy would surely get taller and maybe a little broader.

"Wow, it fits perfectly and its not as heavy as it looks and it even has inner pockets." Tatsumi said in wonder. Coming from a small northern village, good quality clothes were a little hard to come by so the fact that it had pocket on the inside was a marvel to him.

Laughing the older man nodded, guessing the boy wasn't from around these parts and seeing that his clothes were of the practical style to keep one warm he also guessed he was from the northern side of the empire.

"It looks good on you boy, my name is Grrom, I am one of three master blacksmiths here." Grrom said standing a little straighter with his chest buffed out a little more.

"Nice to meet you Grrom, my name is Ta..." Pausing briefly wondering if it was a good idea to give out his real name."Tatsumi"

Grrom grabbed Tatsumi's hand and gave it a hard shake.

Smiling warmly "Ill tell you what boy, I haven't been able to sell that cloak to anyone yet. No one up to now has been worthy enough to wear it, but seeing it fit you the way it does and that it looks perfect on your shoulders I'll make a deal with you." Grrom couldn't help but notice that Tatsumi had the potential for great things. Being an old soldier himself he could see the boy was used to fighting and using his wits to stay alive. Looking at the hand still in his big paw he saw small cuts and felt the roughness of his skin from callouses you get from using a sword. "You sign up for the tournament General Esdeath is sponsoring tomorrow and you win, Ill give you this cloak as a prize along with the prize the General is offering."

Eyes's widening again Tatsumi stared at Grrom in disbelief. "I couldn't take this cloak from you for free, this has to be worth a small fortune."

"You won' be taking it from me for free Tatsumi, YOU have to win a tournament to get it. I hear there are some great fighters signing up for the tournament and I am sure it wont be easy." Grrom said smiling at the younger man. "Show me what your maid of Tatsumi and that my intuition isn't wrong" Grrom thought to himself

"All I have to do is win, and I get this cloak?" Tatsumi said as he came back down from his shock at the proposal.

"Yes" Grrom said with a nod.

"Deal, where do I sign up." Tatsumi said, he didn't want anything to do with General Esdeath yet, but how could he pass this chance up and besides his village could use the prize money. As long as he didn't blow his cover of being a member of Night Raid how could this possibly go wrong.

Hearing footsteps enter the small blacksmiths shop they both turned around to see a young man enter.

"Hey old man, I came to pick up my items if they are ready." The younger man said with a wave of his hand.

"Wave, you didn't come a minute to soon. I just finished them this morning, let me go grab them for you." Grrom said turning around to head to the back of his open shop.

Approaching Tatsumi, wave healed out his hand with a warm smile on his face.

"My name is wave, it's nice to meet you." Wave said warmly.

Taking it in his own hand, "It's nice to meet you too, I'm Tatsumi." Tatsumi couldn't help but smile back to wave, this man seemed kind and friendly. The world especially the empire needed more kind souls in it.

Noticing that Tatsumi was wearing the cloak he slobbered over to one day buy Wave couldn't help but mention the fact that Tatsumi was wearing it.

"The old man is letting you wear that cloak?, he said it was off limits and it wasn't for sale?." Wave said loud enough for the older blacksmith to hear as he returned with a bundle in his arms.

"You are correct it isn't for sale, its going to be a gift if Tatsumi here can win the tournament tomorrow."

A sound that can only be described as shock, disbalief and wonder came from Waves mouth.

"What, you didn't say anything about it being among the prize's last time I was here." Wave said as he shut his mouth from hanging open any longer.

Letting out a booming laugh Grrom said "It's not apart of the prize pool, we made a bet. If Tatsumi here can win the tournament then he will have earned the right to claim my best piece of work for himself."

"Since we are on the subject could you show him were to sign up? I would do it but I can't leave the shop and it's to early to close." Grrom said motioning to Tatsumi.

Smiling once again, wave admitted his defeat and gave Tatsumi a warm smile.

"Yeah I can show you the way." Wave said.

Putting his own cloak back on, he handed the blue and tan cloak back Grrom.

"I have a fealing we will see each other again, Ill be watching you tomorrow boy." Winking Grrom took the cloak and walked away with it to put it in the back of his shop.

Leaving the blacksmiths shop with wave, he followed wave through the crowded streets.

"So tell me Tatsumi, what did you do to impress him enough to make that deal." Wave said while walking through the crowd towards a large coliseum.

"I have no idea, honestly. I walked in and the next thing I know I am promising to fight." Tatsumi said laughing. Everything happened so fast that even Tatsumi is still wrapping his mind around everything.

Laughing with Tatsumi Wave could only imagine how the scene turned out. "Well you're in luck Tatsumi, I am the announcer for tomorrows event."

Looking up at wave, Tatsumi raised one eyebrow wondering for the first time who this man could be. He didn't seem much older then himself and definitely didn't give off a negative aura.

"If you can use that weapon on your back efficiently you might stand a chance against some of the opponents that are signed up." Wave continued.

"We shall just have to see how I do then." Said tatsumi with a bit of confidence.

Reaching the front gates to the giant coliseum there was a stand with a man dressed in the Imperial soldiers uniform and as soon as he looked up from the paper work he said. "Have another fighter for us Jaeger?"

"Jaeger?" Tatsumi thought, wondering what that could be since he hasn't heard about them before in any of the debrief meetings Najenda made them all sit through before the start of every mission.

"Yes I do, is there still room for another fighter?" Wave said glancing down at the almost full sign up sheet.

"Yeah there is room, but he will be the last one." The soldier said going back to filling out some documents. "Sign your name here at the bottom then read our disclosure form. Report here first thing in the morning, the matches will start early and if you aren't present within 5 min of starting the first match you will be disqualified."

Tatsumi filled in his name and read the form, noting where it said death is on the person fighting and the empire would not be held responsible for any accidents. Any weapon may be used short of using toxins.

"Well this should be fun." Tatsumi thought to himself. He wasn't the least bit worried about the other fighters since he wouldn't be fighting for his life this time. Deciding he wouldn't use Incursio this would be a good time to brush up on some of his skills of hand to hand combat.

After filling out his name he looked to Wave. "So you are the announcer huh, how did you become so fortunate?."

Putting his right hand behind his head and grinning with a slight grimace wave said, "ehh I wouldn't call it so much as being fortunate as being forced into it ya know. General Esdeath can be quite persuasive when she puts her mind to it. I really didn't have a choice being a Jaeger and all."

"So Wave works under General Esdeath then, this could be trouble." Tatsumi thought making a mental note to report his findings to Leone when they met up that night.

"Well at least you don't have to fight and get the chance to watch it instead." Tatsumi said giving the man a fake smile.

"Yeah I guess your right, anything I can do to help the empire I will gladly do." Wave said with a smile back on his face.

"agreed." Tatsumi said with a different meaning behind his words then that of Wave's.

"Alright Tatsumi, Ill be seeing you tomorrow, make sure you don't miss the start of the fighting or else you forfeit that cloak and the prize at the end." Wave said with a wave of his hand as he walked away.

Deciding to get back to his original mission Tatsumi walked off back towards the market district thinking about the day to come and what it would mean, he wasn't to worried about the competition since Tatsumi was pretty sure he could take anyone on even without using Incursio. That Prize money was as good as his.

Little did our hero know that the day to come would be something much more then just a fight.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey there, so I dont know about you guys but i'm getting excited for whats coming up. Like I said in the last chapter I am using bits and pieces and some scenes from the manga/anime to bring the story around to what I want it to be and its turning out awesome.**

 **As the story gets deeper involved the chapters will slowly grow longer and longer.**

 **Please review and if you have any questions ask them and I will do my best to answer them.**

The day of the tournament.

The day of the tournament brought a mixture of feelings to Tetsumi, he was excited to finally be able to fight without worrying about killing or being killed and he was also excited at finally having some extra money to send to his village. Up till now he hasn't been able to send more then a few small bags of coins. Being an assassin for Night Raid had its benefits but extreme personal wealth wasn't one of them. The members of Night Raid usually put most of their earnings into helping pay for equipment, repairs or food for the entire group. Today would be his first chance at really being able to follow up on his promise and that alone made him excited.

After returning from his scouting mission of the guards last night he told Leone about the deal he made with Grrom and the tournament and meeting Wave who was a member of a new special task force called Jaegers. Leone thought that the tournament might be a good idea as it would give them a chance to maybe do some more scouting and maybe learn more about the Jaegers. She was worried about being him being in such a close proximity with Esdeath but figured as long as Tatsumi didn't use Incursio he wouldn't bring to much attention to himself.

Stepping away from the building that had become their temporary hideout Tatsumi looked up to the brightening sky and listened to the sounds of the capital coming to life. Pulling out the other half of bread he tore off a chunk of it and popped it into his mouth as he started walking towards the direction he thought the coliseum would be in.

"Uhh scuz me sir, would ya happen to have some spare change?."

Tatsumi turned his head to the left snapping out of his thoughts and saw a dirty little boy looking at him in raggedy looking clothes with a hopeful look on his face. The kid couldn't have been more then 8 or 10 years old to Tatsumi.

Smiling Tatsumi walked over to the kid and pulled out a coin, "What's your name?"

"Ma name is Jack." The kid said giving him a big smile that lit his face.

"Well Jack my name Tatsumi, its a pleasure to meet you. Where are your parents Jack?" Tatsumi said holding out the coin for him to take.

Smile gone now the boys face fell as he looked at the ground briefly. "My Parents died last year. They were soldiers and got killed."

The kid was to young and honest that Tatsumi believed everything he said.

"Do you not have anyone else here that can take you in?" Tatsumi said.

"No" Jack said with the sad look still on his face.

Not used to being in these kinds of situations Tatsumi felt uncomfortable with himself for asking a questions like that.

"Here you go kid, take the coin and the rest of the bread. I have some business to attend to but when I come back if I can find you again ill treat you to some food and we will see about getting you a place off the streets." Tatsumi said feeling another purpose to his plans come to life. Even if his long term goal meant cleaning up the corruption of the capital he could at least try to start by doing some good for it's citizens.

Looking hopeful again Jack took the bread and his Tatsumis coin and ran off but called back "Ill be around here Tatsumi."

Grinning again at the turn of events and how his day started, Tatsumi looked up at the sky again noted that the stars had disappeared and the son was already making its climb in the blue sky.

"Shit, I got side tracked" Sprinting now towards the direction of the coliseum he passed the blacksmiths shop and saw Grrom setting up his shop he waved at the older man and took off even faster not wanting to be late.

* * *

Sometime later.

"Alright, I'm going to start calling off names, when you hear your name say here. If you don't say anything I will mark you off and you will be disqualified so listen up." The soldier that was stationed at the front gates said. It took a awhile for the soldier to make his way through the list of names but as he got closer to the end he noted that he didn't see the last fighters face yet.

Smiling to him self the soldier thought, "We told all the contenders they had 5 minutes before the first fight to show up, but doing this now seems to be the best way to weed out those who weren't serious enough." Grinning even wider he looked down at the paper in his hands and counted at least 8 fighters marked and disqualified.

"Kalbi the butcher"

"Here" a bull like man said with steam coming out of his pierced nose.

Running into the room as his name was said.

"Tatsumi the blacksmith"

"Here" Tatsumi said holding his sides completely winded from sprinting all through the Capital.

"I got completely lost, I need to memorize this place better, were's Lubbock when you really need him" Tatsumi thought inwardly cringing at how bad he was at remember directions.

"Good, The first match starts in 20 min. When you hear your names called make your way up top. I suggest you be prompt with your response, I would hate for anyone of you to make the General wait at her own sponsored event."

With that being said Tatsumi took a seat one of the benches that had enough room on it for him to sit.

He looked around the room inspecting all the fighters present gauging there abilities and experience.

From what he saw most of the fighters looked to be farmers, men to eager to fight or street thugs. Only a few of them looked like they would give any real fight.

His senses didn't pick up anything to threatening from those around him, so Tatsumi closed his eyes and relaxed until his name was called while keeping his instincts on the alert for any funny business.

* * *

Up in the stands sectioned off from the rest of the capitals citizens sat Esdeath and next to her was Ran.

The pavilion they were in had a good amount of shade and had a perfect view of the fighting stage and behind her standing sentry were 2 of her own guards from her personal army.

Yawning widely Esdeath stared at the fighters fighting becoming increasingly more bored as the second ticked away. The current fighting had just started and she could already tell this was going to be a long day. Boring fighters lead to boring results.

"Ran" Esdeath said with another yawn.

Stepping forward Ran said "Yes captain?"

"I am going to take a short nap, you are to watch the fight and give orders in my place, understood?" Esdeath said already putting her head in her hands and closing her eyes.

"Yes captain, enjoy your nap." Ran said standing a little closer so he could see more of the stage.

"mmhmm." Esdeath murmured.

Ran took this time to study the woman, and not for the first time he wondered how such a beautiful woman could be so frightening. Up till recently he had never met the empires strongest fighter, but he had heard about her and the brutality she showed to those she considered weak. Since becoming a Jaeger his impression of Esdeath was that of a strong leader who cared about her subordinates but took great pleasure in torture and asserting her dominance daring anyone to challenge her.

He pitied the man who caught her eye, he would have to be cautious his entire life around her.

As the day went on with winners and losers being announced even Ran was finding it hard to really get into the fighting, but the crowed loved it, hooping and hollering when blood was shed or someone was knocked unconscious. After one particular fight ended the loud booming of voices from the spectators roused Esdeath enough that she woke up.

"Ran, how many more fights are there for today?" Esdeath said with a stretch.

Looking down at the program he said "We are coming to the close with this next fight."

"Good, no one has come close to being worthy enough for the prize let alone my attention." Esdeath said looking back at the stage. After today's boring events she decided she would join some of the trainees on the practice field and test them out to try to get rid of this boredom. The only good thing about today was her dreams from her nap, recently she was having a recurring dream ever time she closed her eyes. For the past 2 months she dreamed about standing in an open field of barely with a bright sky over head. A gentle wind would blow across the field sending up flowers and barely into the air and it would briefly block out a section of the field and when everything settled down a man would be standing there. Walking over to the man Esdeath would feel a calm piece surrounding her, it calmed every dominating instinct she had including her blood lust and desire for fighting. As she walked closer he would turn around to face her with his head tilted slightly watching her intently. Reaching out her hand to touch him she would then start to feel a vastness surrounding him, like a feeling of endless strength and potential could be reached. As her finger tips began to touch the stubble on his cheek the dream would end with 3 words resonating in her mind "you are mine".

Esdeath always awoke with her heart pounding and an unfamiliar feeling in her chest and a longing so great it would eclipse everything she thought she knew or wanted. It was then she realized what was missing in her life. The challenge of gaining someones love and affection and the possibility of having an equal to stand with her at the top of the food chain. Someone who could match her blow for blow and not crumble underneath her overwhelming strength.

"This next battle is the last match for today." Ran said bringing Esdeath out of her thoughts.

"Yeah." Esdeath said looking onto the fighting stage.

* * *

"Tatsumi. Kalbi. You guys are up." A man yelled down into the pit of men waiting.

Standing up first was Kalbi making his way to the stairs leading up to the stage he looked back at Tatsumi and grinned. "This is going to be an easy win for me."

Paying no attention to the bull man Tatsumi calmed his mind and his heart and headed for the same set of stairs. All he had to do was win and he would advance to the top of the leader bored and win. He did his absolute best to win each fight in away that seemed boring and wouldn't bring attention to himself ending each fight within a few seconds of starting by just throwing his opponent off the stage. As he walked up to the stage he heard a mixture of boos and cheers, the crowed was not thrilled with his fighting style.

"I hope you show a little bit more of what your made of instead of throwing people around Tatsumi." Wave said as he passed him by.

Smiling at wave. "Ill think about it."

stepping to the middle of the ring wave started the last introductions of the fights.

"On the east side we have Kalbi the butcher." Wave paused long enough for the crowed to cheer.

"And on the west side we have Tatsumi the blacksmith. You two know the rules, if you step off the stage you loose, if you die you loose, if you are unable to continue fighting in any way you loose." Stepping off to the side Wave announced the start of the match.

Looking down at the smaller man Kalbi grinned. "You're quite small aren't you, Guess that prize money is going to be mine after all. Ill make this fight quick by smashing your face into the dirt." Laughing now the bull man loosened up his guard not sensing any threat from Tatsumi and charged forward.

Tatsumi slowed his breathing down, and noted calmly that he didn't feel threatened in anyway, having been on the other side Akame's and Bulat's power and training this guy was nothing.

Kalbi jumped up into the air and pulled his big meaty fist back intending to smash in the face of Tatsumi, but as he brought his fist forward Tatsumi pivoted slightly making Kalbi's punch miss and over extending his body, which then caused openings for Tatsumi to exploit.

Thrusting his palm upward into Kalbis elbow he delivered a powerful strike hard enough to dislocate the joint causing the bull man to scream in pain then jumped back slightly getting out of range of the bull.

"Gwahhhh, you punk, FINE how about this then." Charging Tatsumi once again the bull reared back with his other arm and brought it down where Tatsumi was standing. Having expected something similar to the first attack Tatsumi used the movement of Kalbi to his advantage. Seeing in his mind how this fight would end Tatsumi grabbed the wrist that was aimed for his head and pulled him self into a swing using the downward thrust of the powerful fist and the upward swing of his own body he flew up slightly behind the bull man and brought the full power of his kick down onto Kalbi's head knocking him down with a grunt. Rising shakily to his feet Tatsumi saw that Kalbi was indeed infuriated. They both charged at each with Kalbi doing his best to land a punch on Tatsumi, but with his right arm being next to useless Tatsumi easily dodged or blocked all of his blows, thrusting his own body forward Tatsumi let loose a flurry of blows into the stomach of Kalbi pushing him back a bit. Jumping into the air again Tatsumi did a round house kick to Kalbi's face sending him flying into the concrete wall that protected the citizens from the fighting.

The crowed was silent but then erupted into cheers at the display of skill Tatsumi showed. Not even caring that he once again won a fight by knocking someone out of the ring.

"Well that was something Tatsumi." Wave said with a shocked expression on his face.

"That'll be all." Wave said raising his hand into the air. "The winner is Tatsumi."

Even more cheers from the crowed erupted almost becoming deafening.

Turning around Tatsumi who was so focused on the fight just now noticed the cheering, turning around looking at everyone screaming his name he blushed and gave a big smile "I did it!" throwing his fist into the air.

Unknown to Tatsumi or anyone else that smile and the display of skill he showed brought forth a small gasp. A gasp that would change the entire world and many lives as we know it.

Standing up Esdeath had a blush similar to Tatsumi's spread across her face. Her breathing was ever so slightly heavier and her eyes that only recently showed extreme boredom now had a light in them.

"We found him!." Esdeath whispered taking a few steps forward to descend the pavilion up in the stands.

Ran seeing the changes to Esdeath looked on with a hint of worry at the younger man on the stage, It would seem the general found what she's been looking for. "Poor kid" he thought.

Descending the steps Esdeath brought her hand to her chest and whispered his name "Tatsumi."

Seeing Esdeath walking down the stairs to him, Tatsumi gave a disbelieving look and frowned slightly. "Shit shit shit, shes coming to the stage."

Reaching the stage Esdeath stood before him and just looked at him. Feeling like shes met him before but knowing she hasn't. She was confused with the feelings surrounding him. He then tilted his head slightly looking at her intently and it finally smacked into her as her dreams gave rushing to for front of her mind. "Were my dreams premonitions to what's happening now?" Esdeath thought while taking a step forward towards Tatsumi raising her hand slightly. Just as her hand was about to touch his face a feeling of endlessness slapped into her and as she looked into Tatsumis green eyes she couldn't see his potential. She always listened to her instincts, as they were never wrong, she was always able to see the potential of those around her which is what lead her to being such a strong commander in being able to lead her forces into endless victories. A single word entered her mind as her fingers touched the stubble of his cheek "Mine!"

For Tatsumi he was overwhelmed, everything around him faded away and only the woman standing in front of him was his focus. He didn't understand the feelings coursing through him, but as Esdeath's cool hand landed on his face he felt a sensation that could only be described as coming home after a long time away and that scared the shit out of him. He knew who she was, she was his enemy. The person who slaughtered his friends and countless others for the thrill of war, but he couldn't shake this feeling as he gazed back into her dark blue eyes reminding him of the way ice looked as the sun set over the horizon.

"Tatsumi's... that's your name right?." She asked as her hand rested full on his cheek.

"Y..Yes, that's my name." Tatsumi said still gazing up into her face.

"It's a good name, You're win just now was magnificent and I'd like to give you you're reward." Esdeath said taking a step back as she reached into a pocket.

"Th..Thank you." Tatsumi stuttered snapping his gaze away from her face to look at the ground. Finally he would be able to send money to his home even if it comes from his greatest enemy.

*Click*

He immediately looked up as he heard the sound and felt a cold metal collar snap into place around his neck. "wh..what is this." Reaching up to touch it.

smiling at him with a blush spread across her face Esdeath put a hand on his shoulder. " **You belong to me now**."


	5. Chapter 5

**AHHH finally another Friday is here and that means its time to partyyyyy. I hope everyone is well and life is going good. Here is the next chapter of our story and with that enjoy and please as always give a review. They do indeed make this all worth it in some way shape or form.**

 **Enjoy guys :) things are getting a little more spicy for our hero/anti hero**

Kill the Temptation

"Wait, wait a minute" Tatsumi stuttered forward as she materialized an icy length of chain attached to his neck and pulled firmly.  
"You belong to me now, and we need to discuss somethings. I'll be taking you to my personal rooms in the palace." Esdeath said still blushing and still firmly leading him to the stages exit.  
"Wai- "He didn't get a second chance to utter his disapproval before she moved and knocked him unconscious with a quick and precis hit to a spot on his neck.

Falling forward his last sights was of her catching him gently in her arms and a whispering "Be calm Tatsumi." Then darkness descended on him.

As she caught the younger man in her arms the entire audience in the Colosseum started whispering and gossiping about the two of them and before she even reached the gates leading up to the palace most of the capital had heard of what had happened. This all worked out for Esdeath, she wanted the population to know he was hers and there for under her protection no one would dare threaten him for fear of crossing her.

The blush still hadn't disappeared from her face and her heart would not calm it's self-down. These emotions she was experience were something entirely new for her and she was enraptured by them.

Looking down at Tatsumi she remembered his beautiful green eyes that looked at her as she walked up to him just moments ago and she felt her once icy heart swell with warmth again and butterflies dance in her stomach, she had no idea why she acted so strongly to him, but what she did know was that he was meant for more than being a simple fighter. She felt the endless potential coming from him and that excited her almost as much as holding him in her arms. She would train him personally and see if he had what it took to be her equal and there for her lover although she had already decided he was going to be her that.

Reaching the upper levels of the palace where most of the high ranking officials kept their rooms she opened the double doors leading into her chambers and closed them behind her with her foot but not before telling the guards stationed there, "No one is to entire this room or disturb us, if its official business write it down on paper and push it under the door." With that she finished the motion of closing the door behind her.

Walking over to her four-poster bed she laid him down gently on it, not caring that he still had his boots on or that he would get dirt on the snow-white sheets. Stepping back to look at him Esdeath could only guess at his age, but she did know he was younger then her 22 years, perhaps he was 16 or 17 she thought. Getting closer to inspect him better she noticed he had a rather handsome face that was just starting to really show its self as he reached further into adulthood. Brown hair that seemed like it couldn't make up its mind if it wanted to be dark or light brown and a strong build with a few scars crossing over his forearms and hands.

Reaching out to touch his hair she noticed with a bit of surprise that it felt extremely soft and had a small hint of pine needles that gave her the sensation of running through a forest.

Esdeath was completely surprised by her train of thought, she was the empires strongest general with no equal that could match her ferocity or strength and here she was thinking about running through a forest just from smelling the faint scent his hair gave off.

Shaking her head, she had no meetings or pressing matters that she couldn't reschedule for tomorrow so decided to go take a shower. She would wake him up and explain his situation to him then.

* * *

Groaning and grabbing his head from the small headache he had Tatsumi just laid there and tried to process what had happened. Not opening his eyes yet he remembered the fight and watching Esdeath come towards him and then the cold feel of metal on his neck and then her catching him. Hand flying to his neck he sighed in relief when he didn't feel the collar.

"I see you didn't need me to wake you up." Esdeath said exiting a room from across the bed with just a towel wrapped around her body.

Staring at the beauty walking towards him, Tatsumi couldn't help but look at her body wrapped tightly by the towel and that her blue hair was still slightly damp from the shower she just took. "w wh what are you doing." Tatsumi stuttered out hand flying to his nose to keep his precious blood from flying out of his face.

Giggling at the expression on his face Esdeath approached him slowly bending down close enough that she saw the faint widening of eyes and the hand clutching his nose clutch just a little harder. "I'm getting dressed." She said giving him a small flick on the forehead.

"Isn't that what you do when you get done taking a shower?" She said dropping the towel and walking over to a dresser against the far wall.

Tatsumi try as hard as he might couldn't stop a little bit of the blood from leaking between his fingers and equally as hard, he couldn't take his eyes away from the backside of a naked Esdeath, seeing the soft curve of her hips and the long legs that any full-blooded man would worship. Never in his life would he have thought that he would be in this situation and the poor boy had no idea of what to do. So, he looked up to the ceiling just stared and started to do mathematical equations in his head to try to get his bodies response to Esdeath to calm down, he didn't even act this strongly to Leone and she was constantly flaunting her body around him.

Calming down a little bit Tatsumi let his eye look around the room looking for possible escape paths he might be able to take if he needed to. The room had a few pictures on the wall but other then that and a few pieces of necessary furniture the room had no personality to it.

"Tatsumi." Esdeath said coming closer to him to sit on the bed once again dressed in her Military uniform except for her thigh length boots and military hat.

Daring to peak back at her he saw she was indeed clothed this time and sat up in the large bed.

"Do you know why I brought you here?" Esdeath said not looking at him.

"Because I won?"

Looking at him this time he could see emotions cross her face briefly before she schooled her features.

Smiling, "Yes and a bit more. You showed potential out there today and I have decided to add you to my personal unit and train you instead of just giving a cash reward."

He knew she was talking about the Jaegers, but he didn't expect her to want to add him to them or to personally train him. Remembering once again who it was that sat next to him Tatsumi grabbed hold of his confusion and remembered his training and decided to play along with her until he could find a way to escape and get back to Night Raid.

"Train me?" He asked genuinely.

"Yes, you have a potential to you that if dealt with properly could one day compete with me on a battlefield." Esdeath said.

He for a moment wondered if she knew more about him then she was letting on but dismissed it immediately. If she knew who he was then he would not be here in her room or being told he was joining her personal team.

"Do I have a choice in this?" Tatsumi said

"No, you do not. You belong to me and will do what I tell you to do." Esdeath said it this time with the authority of the commander that she was. Esdeath wasn't used to people questioning her and would usually deal with anyone who dared to with violence or a trip to the torture chambers until she was satisfied they had learned their lesson. With Tatsumi she didn't want to use those methods, she wanted them to start their relationship together on the right path, so she would exercise restraint and patience with him for the time being. This entire situation was new to her but in the end, she always got what she wanted so decided to be honest with him about her intentions.

"Tatsumi, I have decided that you will be my lover and partner and eventually stand next to me as my equal, but until then you will need to learn how to better protect your self and move around without wasting more energy than needed. Watching you fight I saw many things and what I saw wasn't all bad, but you waste more energy then you need to with unnecessary movements and positioning and you let your self have to many openings to be exploited. If you are to achieve your true potential, we will need to start with the basics and it is my intention to make it so you survive any confrontation. All you must do is do what I tell you to do."

"I have no desire to join the imperial army Esdeath, I came to the capital to try to earn money for my village so that they could survive the coming winter." Tatsumi said declining to tell her he came to the capital originally to join the military but joined Night Raid instead.

Looking at her Tatsumi did see the logic in her reasoning though, he knew he had a long way to go in strengthening his offensive and defensive capabilities. " _Maybe she has a point and I should use the opportunity to learn, she's willing to teach me and besides I could learn more about the Jaegers and their weaknesses while doing it … wait what did she about becoming lovers_!?"

Eyes widening and a blush working its way up his neck to his face. "Could you repeat that last part about us becoming lovers?"

A small blush formed on her face as well, but she kept her eyes on his face and with an innocent look "You will be my lover and I will be yours, I will not take another man for the rest of my life and I expect you to follow the same example." A thought occurred to her to her then "You don't have a girlfriend already do you?."

Tatsumi felt his world shift a little as the image of her naked backside came back to his mind and absently answered her.

"No, I don't." He whispered still completely stuck on his mental image of her.

"Good, I really would hate to have to kill her." Esdeath said giving him a big smile reaching up to touch his face with her fingers again, finally giving in to the impulse to touch him since he woke up.

Feeling his skin underneath her fingers, she again felt the same sensation she did when she first touched him back on the fighting stage. The feeling that she was where she was meant to be, the feeling that her soul had finally found its other half and gave a blissful sigh.

Coming back from his fantasy when she touched his face, he felt a jolt go through him as her cool fingers landed on his skin and it scared the hell out of him. She was his enemy, the person who murdered thousands for the fun of it, so why did her touch make his very soul sigh. More then confused and a little bit afraid he could do nothing but back away slightly avoiding her touch.

Frowning at him when he pulled away from her, she saw a curious mix of emotions cross his face and decided he wasn't used to affection like this. She would be patient with him, she would explore these emotions, but she would let him get used to her and her presence. She knew her reputation for violence and domination and she was happy for it, she even went so far as to make examples out of those who displeased her to further her fearsome influence, but she didn't want Tatsumi to fear her, at least not in that way. She wanted him to understand his position by her side, but she didn't want him to cower from her when she showed him affection, so she would be patient with him.

Pulling her hand back from his face Esdeath stood up and walked over to a desk against one of the walls closet to the bed and pulled out a quill and ink as well as some parchment paper.

"Tatsumi, from this day forward what's mine is yours and what's yours is mine. You will be getting the price money as is your reward for winning the tournament and since I do not need the money it is yours to do with what you want. I can either give you the money or you can send it to your village, and as an offer I can have some of your earnings sent weekly to your village as well."

Caught off guard by the woman in front of him, she was not at all what he expected her to be. The stories he heard about her just didn't match the woman in front of him. He knew they weren't lies he was just having a hard time seeing this side of the woman murdering thousands of people just for the fun of it. He also figured the woman who stood in front of him wasn't the same person who stood on the battlefield, this was a different side of her that no one ever saw, and it confused him. " _Why me_ " He thought.

"I would like to send it to my village. They are the reason I am here in the first place." Tatsumi said.

"Alright, come write it down and as we walk down to meet your new team ill send it off with instructions to send the money to them." Esdeath said laying the quill down next to the paper and stepping to the side. "You might not have a desire to work for the imperial army, so see it as working for me instead. All you must do is listen to me and do what I say. The Jaegers were formed to combat terrorism and to specifically hunt down a dangerous group that goes by the name of Night Raid."

" _God I am about to meet the group formed to kill me and my friends. I guess I don't have much of a choice, I have to figure out their weaknesses and report them back to Najenda_." Tatsumi thought, once again coming to realization that he was in the heart of the capital with the empires strongest and most psychotic general looking right at him.

Writing down the name of his village and handing the paper to Esdeath she made a note of her own on the paper to indicate it was a direct order from her and put down a number that made his eyes go wide.

"This is your payment in advance and the reward you won Tatsumi, I take care of the subordinates under my protection and by extension their families." Esdeath said when she saw his face while putting her personal insignia on the folded paper to seal it.

"I'm sure I don't have to say this but do be careful where you wonder and what you do in the palace, at least until you become an official Jaeger. You are mine and that alone will give you protection but if you do something stupid, I will be forced to act in accordance to my rank so do be careful."

"Yes, general." Tatsumi said following behind her as they walked through the halls.

"Oh, and Tatsumi do call me Esdeath." Esdeath said with a blush and a smile on her face.

Walking through the halls Tatsumi saw a mixture of people pass by but all but a few would look away from them as they passed, such was the presence and reputation of Esdeath.

Alone with him she was different but now he got the sense that she was the general again and she was to be feared. The ones who were brave enough to look at him gave him curious looks ranging from pity, jealousy and anger.

This pleased Esdeath immensely. She was not afraid to flaunt what was hers around and gained a certain amount of satisfaction from the looks Tatsumi received from those daring enough to look at them. Word of what happened earlier that day had reached as far as the palace and soon tongues would be wagging when she announced publicly that he was her lover and would be joining the Jaegers.

" _Oh, this will be fun."_ Esdeath thought to herself as they reached the Jaegers' meeting hall. Smiling she pushed the doors open wide and stepped through to a chorus of greetings.


	6. Chapter 6

**My oh my, I swear it was just July like 2 weeks ago and here we are at the end of the year.**

 **I hope you guys enjoy this chapter it was indeed fun and a challenge for me to write, so PLEASE do review :)**

 **Happy Holidays everyone 3 and stay safe out there!**

Kill the Secrets

"God that tournament did not turn out the way I thought it would and who is that boy that the general took away." A young woman with red hair tied into a high pony tail said watching a small dog chase its tail around barking at a younger girl with black hair and a bag of treats in the crook of her arm.

The large room that was used for the Jaegers meetings was an elegant room. The walls were white washed with hints of gold patterns skittering across in elegant designs. The floor was made of marble that was shined until it reflected the light in the room giving off a feel of comfort and hominess. Centered in the middle of the room was an overly large table made from the best materials surrounded by chairs and bowls of fruit.

Leaning back in one those chairs and propping a foot on the expensive furniture, Wave looked over at Seryu Ubiquitous wielder of Hecatoncheir the biological teigu weapon called Coro.

"That (boys) name is Tatsumi, I met him yesterday while picking up a package. I didn't honestly think he would win let alone interest the general enough to take him with her, he showed amazing skill, so I'm not entirely surprised this is what happened." Wave said grinning.

To him Tatsumi winning the tournament and gaining Esdeath's attention was a welcoming surprise as he felt he could finally form a friendship with someone his own age that seemed normal.

Sitting across from him was Run who watched the interaction between the two with a shielded expression. Watching the tournament and how Tatsumi performed peeked his curiosity. There was something interesting about the young man, he showed a set of skills someone his age should still be trying to accomplish, and he made the fight look like a cake walk, and the fact that he caught the attention of Esdeath was nothing short of luck or bad luck depending on who you ask.

He hadn't spent enough time in her company since becoming a Jaeger yet, but he knew her instincts were second to none and if she saw something in him then it was in his best interest to keep a closer eye on the boy.

Opening the door Esdeath stepped through to a chorus of greetings from those in the meeting hall and followed behind her was Tatsumi.

"I have an announcement, from this day forward we will be adding one more person to our ranks." Esdeath gestured to Tatsumi standing slightly behind her. "This is Tatsumi, he will be the new recruit as well as my lover." Saying this last part with a small blush dancing across her face but determined to make it known that he is someone special to her.

Shocked expressions could be seen from everyone at the last part.

"Hey Wave." Tatsumi said with a small smile on his face, embarrassed more then he wanted to admit but tried to keep it from showing.

"Heya Tetsumi." Wave said leaning forward again so all four post of the chair were touching the ground.

A sharp look was being directed at him from Esdeath. "Wave, how do you know my Tatsumi?"

Gulping audibly Wave stood to attention "I met him yesterday general while going to pick up a package from a blacksmith, he said he wanted to join the tournament but didn't know where to sign up, so I showed him where to sign up."

Nodding her ahead in acceptance she addressed the group, "Where is the doctor and Bols?"

"Bols is in the kitchen making snack and the good doctor is down in his labs I believe." Run said putting the book he was writing in down on the table.

"Seryu, go get the doctor and tell him we are having a meeting in 10 minutes."

Snapping to attention she nodded her head and gave a salute. "Let's go Coro." She said to the dog panting on the ground from its energetic antics a few minutes ago.

Walking over to the head of the table, Esdeath sat down and pointed to her lap and looked pointedly at Tatsumi.

Tatsumi's entire being screamed at him and he flew his eyes to the corner of the room taking a great interest in the corner trying to pretend he didn't see what Esdeath was wanting him to do.

"Tatsumi, come here." Esdeath said quietly but with a sternness that allowed no argument.

Sighing Tatsumi looked back over at Esdeath and walked over to where she was sitting.

"Sit." She said.

Taking this opportunity, he quickly went to pull a chair out to take a seat, but the sudden ice that spread over the chair prevented him from pulling it out.

"Tatsumi, it will do you no good to resist me, come here and sit with me. I would like to have you close." Esdeath said doing her best to sound patient when all she wanted to do was have him in her arms again and to feel the complex emotions she felt before when she was touching him.

Swallowing his embarrassment, he walked over to her chair and let her pull him onto her lap and pushed him to relax against her chest while resting her head on top of his.

Tatsumi couldn't stop a part of himself from relaxing into her embrace. It confused him greatly because he knew he should loath her touch, but when she touched him the same feelings he felt after his fight came rushing back and it scared him. He knew she was his enemy, and should she ever find out he was apart of Night Raid she would kill him.

Feeling him relax into her embrace when just moments ago he was stiff was bliss to Esdeath, she couldn't stop from resting her head on top of his and she definitely couldn't stop her self from resting her hand on his strong thigh, feeling his muscles tighten underneath her hand under the table.

Brushing her hand off his lap he felt her lean forward until her lips were resting against his ear, he felt her smile when she whispered, "Struggle all you want my love, it only excites me more." And brought her hand back up to his leg a little higher on his thigh this time and quizzed.

Breathing in sharply through his nose he pushed her hand off a couple more times and she got increasingly more dominate with her hand until he relaxed his posture against her realizing pushing her only resulted in her getting more aggressive, and he didn't know if his embarrassment could hold out in a room full of enemies.

Tatsumi watched as the rest of the occupants in the room tried to not look at him and Esdeath. The only one who stared openly was the girl with black hair munching on her snacks.

Laughing lightly "Your no fun." She said still next to his ear but relaxed her grip and brought her hand back to where it originally was on his leg.

To the side of the room a door opened, and a shirtless muscled man walked through carrying an assortment of snacks in one arm and a tray of drinks in the other.

Looking around the room behind his mask he took everything in quietly and blushed when he saw the general with a stranger on her lap.

"Oh, we have a guest!"

"Bols, meet Tatsumi he is going to be joining us from now on." Esdeath said

"Its nice to meet you young man." Bols said setting the tray and snack down on the table handing them out to everyone.

The main door to room opened and Seryu stepped through with an older man who Tatsumi figured was the doctor.

"Alright everyone's here, first off I want to congratulate you all for passing your training, as it shows your resolve and strength to not give up under extreme odds, but what this meeting is really going to be about is we have received reports that Night Raid may be here in the capital. It's just rumors right now, and we have our spies looking into it, but until we have confirmation, we will be performing extra patrols around the capital. If you suspect anything suspicious I want you to capture and bring them to me for questioning. Night Raid is known to have teigus too, so caution is to be used at all times."

It took everything in Tatsumi to stay relaxed against Esdeath and to keep his face calm, but inside his mind the wheels were spinning. " _How could they know we are here? It's just Leone and me. What could they have done to give their presence away_?" Tatsumi didn't feel he did anything to give himself away but couldn't help but wonder about Leone and what she had been doing. He didn't have enough information and he needed to figure out how they were found out.

While Tatsumi was thinking he didn't notice a pair of eyes were watching him, analyzing him.

"You all have today off, so I won't make any of you go on patrol but tomorrow we will be splitting up into groups of two and do rotating schedules around the capital. The day is still young, and I do expect to see you guys training or reading up on the structures of the military or its history. Meet here at 630 tomorrow and I will assign groups, until then everyone but Wave is dismissed. Wave I want you to head over to the training grounds. You will be running the track for a while as your stamina is quiet low to be wielding Grand Chariot effectively."

Dropping his head with a dejected look on his face he nodded. "Yes general." And was then echoed by the rest as they got up and walked out.

Bringing her face forward she sniffed Tatsumi's hair and sighed, something about the way he smelled so delicious was intoxicating to her and she didn't think she would ever get enough of it.

Heart hammering in his chest from what she said about Night Raid and the spies he just sat there almost not noticing her nuzzling his neck until he felt a gentle bite on his left earlobe.

Yelping he jumped up from her lap before she could pin him back against her he grabbed his ear to rub the sting out.

"I am not a chew toy general Esdeath you can't just go around nibbling on me whenever you want." Tatsumi said with a frown as a blush creeped its way across his face.

Leaning back in her chair with a content smile on her face, she crossed her legs and said "Tatsumi, like I said before the more you struggle the more enjoyment I get, and eventually I will have what I want, but I do understand this is all new for you." Esdeath thought for a moment before a more predatory smile lit her face up. "I'll make you a deal Tatsumi, if you land a hit on me in a sparring match, I won't show my affections out in public, but if you do not manage to land a hit on me, I want a kiss and for you to stop struggling every time I want you near me."

Tatsumi didn't like these odds, she wasn't called the empires strongest for no reason and as far as he knew she had won every single battle she had ever been in, but that didn't mean she has never been touched before in combat. He felt confident in his skills of close-range combat since Incursio was mainly a melee combat teigu.

"Deal"

Standing up to make her way over to the training grounds she motioned for him to follow her. "Oh, and Tatsumi do stop calling me general."

They walked in silence until they reached in outdoor training field. It was a large area that had various sorts of equipment set up around it for different training exercises and a weapons rack that had most of your basic weapons on it. There was a large track that circled around the entire field and Tatsumi noticed a few people running.

"I want to see your skills with a weapon Tatsumi, I already have a basic understanding of your melee combat skills and we will touch up on them eventually." Esdeath said walking up to a rack that had various swords on it. "I don't really see you as the long-range types." She picked up a basic short sword and handed it to him.

"This will do for now, but we will eventually work on becoming proficient with all martial weapons. It is good to have a basic knowledge of how to use everything and anything around you to defend or attack with." Esdeath walked over to a part of the field that was free of obstructions, she didn't want anything to interfere with Tatsumi and her fight.

Holding the new weapon in his hands, he felt that the blades balance was passable enough, but he couldn't help but wish for Incursio's blade. Ever since becoming its owner he hadn't used any other weapon and now found that he missed its comforting grip in his hand.

Walking up over to where she stood waiting, Tatsumi mentally prepared him self for what was about to happen not even sure if she was going to hit back or not.

"One hit and that's it?"

"One hit and that is it, but I do expect you to give it your all Tatsumi. I will not be going easy on you so if you don't want to get seriously injured, I suggest you pay attention to defense and avoiding unnecessary movements and openings. This is going to be a bit more than just about our bet, I want to try to show you how to close those openings you showed at the tournament."

Well that confirmed one thing, she was going to hit back.

Standing before her he tried to determine the best way to attack her. She had no openings he could take advantage of and she just stood there and looked at him. He felt nervous for some reason, like she some how knew what he was going to do before he knew it himself and he hadn't even made a move yet.

Feeling the sweat drip down his back he decided to charge forward and see where it went from there. Tatsumi wasn't much of tactical fighter as he was a reactive one and he saw his mistake as soon as he came in range of her.

Running forward he brought his sword up and swung it down intending to cut her across her midsection only to have his sword swatted away by her hand and punched in the face sending him back a few steps. He never even saw her lift her hand to punch him, but he definitely had gotten punched thanks to the throbbing in his jaw.

"Charging into a fight without an idea of how it's going to go will lead you to a quick death Tatsumi, especially against those who are leagues ahead in skill, pay more attention to my body's movement and try to predict the possible outcomes before they happen without thinking to hard on it. Your number one goal when fighting is to take control of the situation. The moment you lose it your chances of winning drop drastically."

Nodding his head, Tatsumi decided to stop thinking this time and let the rest of him take over. Loosening his grip slightly to allow for a more fluid movement he ran forward once again.

This went on for awhile with her swatting his sword away and punching, slapping or kicking him away across the training field and it was becoming increasingly more frustrating for Tatsumi, but what infuriated him even more was she seemed like she was playing with a child. She hadn't even pulled out her own weapon and had a bored look on her face.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself down, he assessed the situation and figured no matter how he went about this fight he would always be the underdog, his only chance of landing a hit on her was going to be because some stroke of luck not skill.

Running forward Tatsumi lunged forward with his sword and just as before she swatted it away but this time, he was ready for her back hand, he still couldn't see her movements, but he knew he was getting better at seeing it when he caught the glimpse of her fist coming at him. This time he dodged it and smiled in satisfaction of not being punched in the face again.

Still following the movement of his sword, he brought it back at her only for her to block with an icy sword creation of her own.

Her eyebrow twitched this time giving him the only out word sign of her acknowledging him. Still caught up in the moment and not willing to get hit again Tatsumi hoped back and then dashed forward bringing his sword up in fast movement.

Esdeath knew she wasn't fighting seriously, she just wanted to see what he could do and understand where his abilities where. She had no openings in her defense and this made it hard for Tatsumi but if he was going survive in the world next to her, he would have to learn to overcome this obstacle and force her to defend.

She was however impressed with his ability to adapt and learn as each time he attacked, and she retaliated he slowly became quicker at avoiding a direct hit and when he dodged her back hand, she was pleasantly surprised that he made her create a sword to block his second attack. Bringing up her leg to kick at him, he stopped her own movement by mimicking her.

The moment his knee collided with hers he wanted to scream out in pain, it felt like he smashed his knee into a brick wall, but he couldn't let this momentum stop. He swung his sword again and continued his assault and doing his absolute best to avoid hers. All he could do was keep pressing his advance and use all the training that was drilled into him from his time spent with Night Raid.

Eventually he had Esdeath more engaged then just swatting his sword away with her hand or the ice sword she created, she started to push back now understanding how far could push without harming him, now she would start to show him the openings he didn't seem to notice he had.

After a long awhile Tatsumi collapsed on the ground panting and covered in sweat, his arms and legs having gone numb from blocking Esdeath's attacks and taking direct hits. The power level between them was such a wide gap that he doubted he'd ever be able to cross it to meet her at the top like she wanted, and the worse part was Esdeath didn't look like she even broke a sweat as she defended against him not once using her teigu, strictly doing this old school.

"I believe I won Tetsumi." Esdeath said walking up to him and watched with amusement as he panted on the ground.

Squatting down next to him she reached out and lightly touched his neck.

A sharp in take of breath was all he could muster as he felt her cold touch against his heated skin, but god did it feel good.

Tatsumi stayed like that enjoying the unexpected kindness of the woman next to him, once again wondering how someone who could be so cruel to her enemies treat him with kindness.

Who would have thought that the ice queen would be using her powers for something other than murder, but instead used them to cool down the young man in front of her after a spar with her.

"Tatsumi, I am collecting my reward now." She leaned forward this time and brought her lips to the corner of his mouth, giving him a kiss that surprised him with its consideration. It wasn't the kiss he thought he was going to receive and if he was truly honest with himself, he felt a little disappointed and once again his mind and heart fell into a confused state at his reaction to her.

"You did well, and watching you struggle and learn as the fight went on proved to me once again that you are the perfect one for me. Your potential only needs to be directed in the right direction and I will make sure that happens." Esdeath said raising up to stand and offered him her hand.

"I'll get stronger, and I will land a hit on you." Tatsumi said with conviction, he had to get stronger, he had to be able to protect his friends and those around him and if he had to learn from this woman on how to do it, he would do it. He beamed a goofy grin at her this time causing a deep flush to spread across her cheeks.

"I-I have some things I need to attend to Tatsumi, you may do as you please for a while, ill come find you when I am done. Remember my warning from earlier about getting into trouble and not doing anything stupid." Esdeath said walking off and with a final look over her shoulder she walked off the training field.

"I remember Esdeath, I won't do anything I shouldn't." Tatsumi said to himself and truly he had no plans as of right now to do anything but send a letter explaining his current situation to Najenda and find Grrom to get his prized cloak.

" _God, I hope everyone understands why I am doing what I am doing_." Tatsumi thought as he headed out towards what he hoped was the direction to the market place.


	7. Chapter 7

**So I am happy to say I was able to get this out before end the of the year :) I hope every ones holiday was a good one.**

 **As always review or pm me, I look forward to seeing your comments both good and bad as they can only help me become a better writer :)**

 **Happy New years everyone!**

Kill the Voices

Walking down the path towards the market district, Tatsumi couldn't help but wonder how he survived this long alive with his sense of direction. It never became more obvious to him now that he was in the capital that he was god awful at it, but as he walked he started to recognize food stands and small landmarks that opened up to the general public to rest by.

"Hey squirt!" someone yelled a few yards from him.

Turning his head to look at who was calling out, he saw Grrom walking towards him through the crowd with a beaming smile on his dirt stained face.

"I heard you won and caught the attention of certain general." Grrom said with a wag of one of his bushy eyebrows and gave him a clap on the shoulder.

"Yeah, I guess I did, I'm still fuzzy on it all but hey a win is a win, right?" Tatsumi said with a grin.

With his hand still on his shoulder Grrom began to lead him back to the blacksmith's shop. "You are right on that one my boy and I believe I have something that belongs to you."

Grrom lead him to the back of the shop where a small room was connected and opened the flap leading to a room that had all sorts of tools and trinkets in it. Hung neatly on a post was the promised cloak.

Before Tatsumi made a move for it Grrom stepped in front of him blocking the cloak from view "I hope this cloak serves you well boy, it's kept me alive more times than I care to admit over the years. You treat it well and it will do that same for you, just word to the wise don't stay in the shadows for to long."

At those words Tatsumi could only stare at the older man in confusion, ' _What does he mean by saying that? It's just a cloak_ '

As Grrom said this he turned around and with a fast movement for someone his size and age he touched the cloak and grabbed Tatsumi's wrist and as all this happened a shock passed through him.

"What the hell was that!" Tatsumi said wrenching his hand from Grrom's grip.

"You will soon find out boy." Grrom said, looking suddenly exhausted as he stepped to the side and handed the cloak over. "Just remember what I said about the shadows. Now if you will excuse me this old man is going to close shop and hit the hay."

Taking the cloak, all he could do was look at Grrom with confusion but nodded his head and headed for the front of the shop.

Everything once again happened so fast that Tatsumi was having a hard time wrapping his mind around it all, but as he looked at the cloak in his hands he felt a surge of power and acceptance. The kind of sensation you had when putting on well worn boots that molded to your body perfectly.

' _Man, this day has been a crazy series of events_ '

Looking up at the sky he noted that he had a few more hours before the sun would set and he still had some things he had to do before Esdeath came looking for him.

Making his way to the hideout he shared with Leone, he went down the steps into the living quarters where he found a small desk tucked away in the corner. He found parchment paper and a quill and wrote a quick letter explaining his current situation and his decision to stay so he could finish his current mission in reporting the guards movements and gathering intel on Esdeath and the Jaegers.

Satisfied he could at least let them know he was not deserting them and that he had not forgotten his original mission, he just once again hoped they would understand why he was doing this and not try to rescue him from his stupidity. He was playing with fire – er, ice - by being so close to the one person who could destroy him and everything he worked so hard to achieve if he was found out, but if he could get this to work then the Rebel forces would stand a better chance at defeating the Imperial Army.

Deciding to not think about that possibility he walked out of the hideout and headed back out into the dying crowd as the shops closed and its citizens headed home for the evening to be with their families.

He briefly thought about going back to get Incursio but decided against it. He didn't want to give any clues to who he was connected to and since Incursio was used previously by Bulat he didn't want to take that risk. He would just ask Esdeath for a simple blade to have so he could protect himself if the need should arise.

' _I will be your sword'_ a voice whispered to him.

Stopping in his tracks Tatsumi looked around, but no one was close enough to him to have said that.

Feeling a cold chill run through his right arm he looked at it and saw he was holding a sword that was pitch black with silver etchings down the blade and across the hilt that seemed to glow.

Eyes widening in surprise for what felt like the twentieth time that day, he saw that the cloak he was carrying was now in the shape of a sword that was wrapped around his hand like a glove, completely engulfing his wrist with dark tendrils dancing across his skin seeming to want to crawl up his body.

' _I will be your vengeance_ ' the sword/cloak whispered to him.

' _I am you and you are me, we will smite down those who oppose us or endanger us without hesitation and without mercy_ '

Having gone through something similar when dealing with Incursio, Tatsumi realized the cloak was a teigu and that it was speaking directly into his mind. Somehow, he formed a bond with the cloak, now realizing what had happened when Grrom grabbed him and the cloak. He was transferring ownership.

Calming down now after realizing what had happened, he opened his mind to the teigu and felt it slip in and take up residence. He needed answers.

'What are you?' Tatsumi concentrated as he felt a buzzing sensation ripple through his mind.

' _You may call me Erobus and I am the personification of darkness, born into this world from the chaos of life and death and now my destiny is connected to you_ '

' _Erobus, I need you to go back to being a cloak right now'_ Tatsumi said feeling a subtle shift in the airs temperature around him telling him only one person could be approaching.

' _Our wills are one now, all you have to do is imagine me to be what you need me to be'_ Erobus said to him.

Feeling Esdeath get closer to his location Tatsumi pictured the cloak he was holding moments ago.

He felt a coldness slide across his skin as he watched the dark sword go back to back to being a cloak.

Breathing out a sigh, he looked around to make sure no one had seen this display and started making his way towards the presence he felt, deciding he wouldn't be able to escape her since she's already locked onto him.

* * *

Walking up to him, Esdeath watched him with a curious gaze. She sensed a strong presence a few moments ago and as she got closer it vanished and then Tatsumi came into view.

' _Interesting'_ she thought but decided to pursue what her instincts were telling her at another time.

"Tatsumi" Esdeath said lightly as she drew closer. "let us retire for the night, it's getting late and we have a couple of busy days ahead of us, tomorrow you will be officially a Jaeger and will join them on their missions and training."

"Eh, Esdeath I have a room rented in the inn a few blocks away." He said hoping she would let him have privacy. There was so much that happened today that he wanted time to digest it all.

She gave him a pointed look for a moment.

"in case you have forgotten you belong to me, and you will stay with me and we will share the same room. Fortunately for you I already have a room, so we won't be staying at an Inn."

"Esdeath" Tatsumi said making a face he hoped resembled something cute.

Laughing lightly, she reached her hand out to grip his chin and looked down into his eyes.

"Ill tell you what, I will make a deal with you. I will not be moving on the fact that we will be sharing the same room and the same bed, but I know you desire your freedom. You give me your nights and most of your days and I will try to give you some time to do as you please with no obligations attached, except that you come back to me and you don't forget about your duties to the Jaegers."

"Alright, we have a deal" He said. He knew she wouldn't budge on the room deal but he would be lying if he said he wasn't surprised with her compromise, something told him she wouldn't do this for anyone else.

Honestly this worked out for him, he wouldn't have to sneak off to send his reports to Najenda and the others and he could analyze the guards' movements.

"Good" Esdeath said starting to move forward through the streets.

"By the way Tatsumi, where did you get the cloak?" Esdeath said without looking back to make sure he was following her.

"I made a bet with a blacksmith that if I won the tournament, I would win the cloak as well." Tatsumi said.

"Ah, well it is a magnificent looking cloak." She said back to him.

' _You have no idea_ ' He thought.

The walk back to the palace was quiet and Tatsumi did his best to remember the path they took until Esdeath jumped up to the top of the tall wall that separated the palace grounds with the citizens below.

Grinning at him she motioned for him to do as she had.

Running forward he gave a powerful leap with his legs and joined her at the top of the wall.

"This is the fastest path back to the palace, but if you follow that road it is the straightest path back as well with the fewest detours." She pointed to a road a few streets over from where they were just at previously.

"I noticed you were trying to note the path we took so I wanted to show you the way. I know you're not from the capital and this place can be confusing to those not used to large cities.

"Yeah this place is unlike anywhere I've ever been, there is so much going on that it's a little overwhelming." He said, standing next to her over looking the various streets and building from the wall they were standing on. "I just wish there wasn't so much poverty and so many homeless, surely the capital doesn't need all that it has and could afford to give back to its less privileged."

"They are in the state they are in because they are to weak to change their situation Tatsumi. The powerful will always live on top of those who are weaker, that is just the way the world works. Even in the wilds the strong survive and the weak die." Esdeath said starting to move along the wall towards the palace.

Following behind her he understood her outlook but disagreed with it completely.

"That may be so, but its also means the strong should protect the weak, anyone can change their situation given the right circumstances they just need the chance to do so. You would help someone in need if they asked for it, wouldn't you?"

"I would not. If you can not survive without the assistance of someone else helping you along then no, you do not have the right to live among the strong. Should the Bird not eat the worm because it is weaker? No, it will eat the worm to ensure its survival." She said stepping around a catapult.

Looking at her in disbelief "You're a general, isn't it your job to protect and serve the capital and its citizens?"

"It is my job to crush and defeat the enemies of the capital not protect those who can't protect themselves Tatsumi. I will do what I must to ensure that the capital sees the rise of the next morning's sun, but that protection does not reach out to individuals unless placed directly under my care."

"Would you not help me if a time came and I needed it?" he said wondering not for the first time who she was underneath the general's cloak.

Stopping she turned around and in the light of the dying sun, her face was cast in shadows but for the glint of her ice blue eyes underneath her generals cap.

"I view you as an extension of my self Tatsumi, any action against you is an action against me, and I protect what is mine and you, my love, are mine! Now let's save this conversation for another time. I am hungry and I still have reports to read."

Nodding his head, he just stared up into her eyes and felt the subtle shift of Erobus in his arms. He must be sensing the emotions her words have brought forth in Tatsumi at the thought that she would do nothing for those less fortunate then herself.

"Your right, I am hungry and a shower would do wonders right now." He said trying to push his feelings of discontent aside.

"Good, let's take a shower together then." Esdeath said, and while her face was still mostly cast in shadows Tatsumi could see the blush spread across her features.

Eyes widening at the thought of this woman naked and in the same shower as him had Tatsumi clutching his nose to keep from loosing more blood today then he already had.

"I..I can take one on my own, b..b..besides I like really cold water and I stink right now."

Coming up to him with that predatory grin she had earlier at the meeting, he knew he was going to lose another fight with her.

Esdeath couldn't help herself as she saw his flushed look, teasing him was becoming her new favorite past time and she loved the facial expressions she got from him as she leaned in and put her face next to his ear.

"It's a good thing I am immune to the cold. Besides, I think you smell pretty good right now Tatsumi." As she said that last part, she buried her nose in his hair and let his natural scent wash over her.

Overcome by the sensation of him so close to her and his scent filling her head, what she did next baffled her as much as it did him.

She leaned back a little and gave a small flick of her tongue against his jawline and proceed to move across his jaw giving him small licks until her mouth was mere centimeters apart from his.

She looked into his eyes to see his reaction and what she saw there had her leaning forward and pressing her lips gentle against his.

This was kiss that was on a whole other level from the one she gave him earlier.

The feeling of his lips against hers was a new sensation for her and one she wanted to explore more of and when she felt his lips push slightly against her own, she couldn't help but let out a soft moan. His lips were a lot softer then she thought they would be, and she let herself indulge in them for the time being, feeling no resistance from him. Every sense and instinct she had zeroed in on the feel of his lips pressing against hers.

* _Gurgle_ *

He was so caught up in what was happening that he forgot he hadn't eaten since that morning before the tournament.

Breaking the kiss Esdeath took a step back from him, flushed and slightly out of breath.

"Let's go get some food." She turned quickly on her heels to hide her face from his, not understanding the emotions that were coursing through her body. She felt tingly and her stomach was full of butterflies.

He stood there watching her walk away from him stunned at what had just happened and even more stunned at how he had reacted to her kiss. She was a gorgeous woman with curves any full-blooded man would die to have, but she wasn't his to take. She was his enemy and he needed to remember that, but man that kiss was something else.

Tatsumi knew that even though he had almost no romantic experiences with the female gender that that kiss was amazing and he would likely never forget it.

"Tatsumi, are you coming?" Esdeath called to him.

Feeling that he had his body back under control he joined her as they entered the palace keep somewhere in the lower levels.

They made their way up a few flights of stairs and through a courtyard passing various military personnel and servants. All but a few avoided them, but that didn't stop the whispering that followed behind them.

' _There he is…'_

' _I wonder how long he will last…'_

' _What makes him so special…'_

' _Strongest in the empire has found herself another pet…'_

Seeing the angry expression Tatsumi was sporting she said, "Do not pay attention to them Tatsumi, they only want what they cannot have. If I made a fuss every time someone said something behind my back half the castle would be empty."

They passed through the lower half of the palace and came up to the chambers that marked themselves as belonging to Esdeath and the Jaegers.

"Go take your shower, I will go tell the servants to bring us something to eat. I'll be back shortly" She said walking back down the stairs they just came up from.

Not wanting to remind her that she planned to join him, he hurried into the chambers he thought was hers.

The living quarters were separated by a series of rooms. There were chairs and couches set around with tables holding bowls of fruit set around them. He walked forward and opened a large set of double doors that led into a room that had a large four poster bed in the middle of it.

Recognizing this room as the one from earlier, he made his way to the bed to start stripping out of his clothes and boots. As he was going to set the cloak down it spoke to him for the first time since earlier that evening. He always felt it stirring around in his mind but when it spoke to him, he jumped a little.

' _Tatsumi, after some thought I have decided to join you in a more permanent manner. This form will not do as I need to be with you in a more biological way. Destiny has chosen you as my master and the wielder of my power, this is my gift to you'_

Before he could form his question, the cloak he was holding turned into a black liquid that seemed to cling to his skin. He watched as it moved up his arm and melted into the skin on his chest right over his sternum. It formed a symbol he had never seen before but guess it was the simple of the teigu. It resembled the symbol of the crescent moon but was black instead of white.

In the next instant, Tatsumi felt a strong pain hit every nerve ending in his body with a white-hot pain so blinding in its intensity he saw the edges of his vision close in.

The only sound he could muster was a gasp of pain before he doubled over and fell onto the ground.

In his mind he saw a figure approach him swimming in swirling darkness only separating long enough to show him a fanged smile and eyes so black that he doubted what he saw.

As the figure drew closer it reached it's hand out and touched the center of Tatsumi's chest where the symbol laid and as it's hand touched his chest he came back to reality.

He just laid there panting and sweating but what he saw had him opening his eyes wide as he watched every shadow in the room move towards him and melt into him.

As the shadows melted into his skin, he felt the pain disappear and a new power flow through his shaking limbs, giving him strength he had never felt before. This was a strength even greater than the power he felt when wielding Incursio. Incursio had never truly chosen him as its wielder so his connection to it was weaker than most other teigu users. Erobus on the other hand had chosen him and, unlike Incursio, the power and strength flowing through him was a true melding of two beings becoming one.

Finally having enough strength to stand back up he stretched his muscles feeling everything working as it should, but noticed he felt lighter than before.

' _Erobus, what did you do.'_ he thought.

' _I made us into a more bonded pair. My form before was that which my previous wielder wished me to be and it suited me fine for the time. You will need me as I am now, so I changed to fit you better. The man you call Grrom had a low compatibility with my powers, so he could only use a fraction of it and chose to use me for more defensive purposes.'_

' _So, you choose me as your true user and became one with me? Like Esdeath's Demon Extract? Is this your true form?'_ Tatsumi asked.

' _Yes, we are similar to how that woman uses her powers, but I am not a part of your blood and existence like hers is. We cannot be separated now that I am a part of you though, our wills are one and we will work in tandem together to accomplish many things. I will be here when you need me, all you have to do is call me into being and I will be there.'_

Standing there, he felt Erobus move around in his mind and the symbol on his chest itched.

' _By the way Tatsumi, that woman is on her way back to you. After experiencing your emotions from earlier I suggest you hurry and take your shower if you don't want her joining you.'_

He forgot all about Esdeath while dealing with this new chain of events.

Hurrying to take his clothes and boots off he stumbled his way to the bathroom and fumbled with the knobs. He was not used to dealing with this kind of thing so all he managed to get out was a spray of ice-cold water that had him shrieking and stepping to the side to avoid the freezing water.

He studied the trap of ice water and turned one of the knobs the other way and waited to see what would happen. Soon he felt the warm spray of water and decided it was safe to step back in.

' _How many events can happen in one day'_ He thought as he reflected on everything that had happened today.

* * *

Esdeath entered the adjoining bedroom and looked around, her sharp eyes seeing much and her senses telling her what her eyes could not. She had felt the power of a teigu and it was connected to Tatsumi that much was clear.

It excited her to see to see these events unfold. This saved her from having to find a teigu to fit him since it seems someone already had, and she suspected it was the cloak. She felt power coming from it when she met up with Tatsumi earlier but as soon as she felt it, it disappeared and that intrigued her. She wondered what its powers were and decided to test him in the next couple of days when the her and the Jaegers went on their first team training exercise.

Taking her saber, hat and thigh high boots off, she sat down on the bed to wait for him to come out of the bathroom. She was sure she would get an eye full since he didn't seem to think about grabbing a towel or bringing his clothes in with him in his haste.

It occurred to her as she waited for him to finish his shower that Tatsumi didn't have any clothes here other than dirty ones scattered across her room.

Getting up to write instructions for a few changes of clothes to be purchased for him, she went to her wardrobe and looked through its contents and found a pair of old workout shorts for him. He likely wouldn't be happy about this, but this was all she had that would even come close to fitting him.

Hearing the shower turn off, she masked her presence and wondered what he would do when he realized he had brought nothing into the shower with him.

' _Shit, I didn't bring anything in here with me'_ He thought as he stood there naked and dripping with water.

Thinking for a moment, he looked down at his chest to where his teigu's symbol sat on his chest.

' _Erobus I need you to become a towel for me_ ' He said in his mind.

A noise that sounded like a sigh echoed through his mind.

' _Just imagine what you need me to be Tatsumi and I will respond'_ Erobus said.

Picturing what he needed, he felt the teigu warm up slightly and saw it shimmer as a black towel with silver lining its edge appear around his waist.

Stepping from the room, he froze as he saw Esdeath sitting there with her back resting against the backboard of the bed reading some reports. When she looked over to him what she saw had her raising her eyebrows. He had a black towel wrapped around his waist not concealing much but what was necessary and the rest of him was laid bare to her greedy eyes as she looked over every inch of him.

Deciding to save him some embarrassment for now, she motioned to the shorts she had brought out for him sitting on the edge of the bed.

Mumbling his thanks, he took up the shorts and wondered how she though he was going to fit into them.

He returned to the shower and put them on, his face flaming red with how he looked in them. They were short and rode low on his hips. Dropping his head in shame he walked back out of the shower and let her eyes roam over him again. He just accepted his fate for now and vowed to find clothes tomorrow.

"The food should be here any moment, Tatsumi. Relax I won't do anything tonight." Esdeath said taking pity on the younger man. Though she wanted to explore the earlier feelings she felt when they kissed, she didn't want to push him too far past his comfort zone too fast although seeing him in those shorts had her clenching her legs together a little tighter than before. They barely fit and what she saw had a small blush spread across her cheeks.

"If you look in that dresser you might be able to find a shirt, though I doubt anything you find in there would fit you." She said going back to reading the report she had in her hand to keep her busy.

Soon after, a light knock sounded on the door to her bedroom and a maid entered pushing a tray of steaming hot food and drinks in.

They ate together in silence, one wondering how again he found himself in this situation and the other barely holding in her excitement at having him in her arms as they slept.

Soon, it came time to go to sleep as he let out a wide yawn and looked at the bed longingly. Giving in to her desire to sleep in the same bed he got up from his seat, put his empty plate back on the tray and made his way over to the bed.

"I thought you would put up some sort of struggle about sleeping with me." She said as she moved the covers down and crawled in waiting for him to join her.

"I normally would, but I am to tired to do anything else but sleep." Tatsumi said as he laid down and got comfortable.

They laid like that for a few moments before she reached out and dragged him to her and became the big spoon. She cuddled him against her body, resting her chin on top of his head.

Sighing, she let his warmth spread over her and closed her eyes and soon fell into a light sleep.

He, on the other hand, had his eyes wide open. She had molded her entire front to his back and he felt every part of her pressed against him.

' _This is going to be a long night_ ' He thought, but soon the warmth that was being shared between them and her soft even breaths had him lulled into sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

**Alright Chapter 8 is out :)**

 **I Hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Years, I know it was a busy time for me but not life is coming back together lol**

 **Fair warning this chapter is Rated M so if that's not your thing I do apologies you probably shouldn't read this.**

 **Review and ask questions if you have them, I will answer them to the best of my ability :)**

Kill the patience

Tatsumi woke up to the feeling of Esdeath still pressed against him. It didn't seem like she had left that spot at his back the entire night but what really had him awake was the feel of her slowly rubbing circles on his stomach with her fingers.

He laid there and let her touch him, trying to figure out why her fingers rubbing against the muscles of his stomach felt so good. He generally was very ticklish but the way she glided her cool fingers over his abdomen just felt simply amazing and he decided to lie there and let her do as she pleased. He kept his breathing even to let her continue to think he was asleep.

"I know you're awake Tatsumi, I can feel your heart beat faster and your breathing pick up every time my hand goes lower." Esdeath said, next to his ear. To demonstrate her point, she moved her hand lower to light stroke the hair beneath his naval.

Not able to take the torment anymore, he rolled over to face her and looked up into her eyes. She was smiling down at him with a small grin on her face. He was so tired last night that he had not paid much attention to her attire and just then noticed that she only had a simple long-sleeved button up shirt on. What had him eyeing her cautiously, though, was the fact that the shirt wasn't buttoned and left little to the imagination. He instantly knew that if he let his eyes drift lower, he would be needing another shower to wash away the blood that would be evacuating his face.

Esdeath, on the other hand, was completely unfazed by her near nakedness. She generally slept in the nude and only put this shirt on so that he wouldn't freak out but that didn't stop her from leaving it unbuttoned throughout the night. Feeling his warm skin pressed again her was amazing and she slept peacefully throughout most of the night, occasionally waking up to study her lover. She studied his body and the mark of his Teigu, lightly tracing her finger over it and him.

He was still coming into manhood and his body was swiftly shedding the softness that marked childhood and becoming more toned and rugged. It delighted her senses to no end. She found herself more and more attracted to him the more time she spent in his presence. When she woke this last time snuggled against his back as the sun started its climb over the horizon, she let her fingers trail over his front, across every inch of skin she could reach, not yet daring to go underneath the shorts he had on. Time would come when she took what she wanted, but something in her told her to wait and she obeyed that instinct.

Still looking into his eyes, she brought the hand that was slowly teasing him up to run her fingers through his soft brown hair bringing another attractive flush across his face.

"We have a busy day today Tatsumi and after last night I realized you don't have anything to change into, so I instructed for clothing to be purchased for you. It should be brought up here soon, unless you want to go shopping and you can purchase your own clothing and items."

Taken aback at her thoughtfulness, he agreed to go shopping but wouldn't turn down the clothes purchased as long as they fit. He didn't know how long he would have to play this role he put himself in, but he might as well prepare himself for the long haul.

"Good, its still early enough that we don't have to go meet the other Jaegers yet, so we will head down now and get it out of the way." Esdeath said as she moved away from him and stood up and presented her back to him. Wanting to tease him again she stretched her arms up and leaned her head back. As she did this her shirt rose up over the generous curve of her butt and Tatsumi got the briefest glimpse of her before her hair shielded what he was trying so desperately to look away from.

Sighing at her antics, Tatsumi rolled to his side of the bed and stood up, adjusting the short shorts so that he could preserve some of his modesty. He made his way over to his way over to the pile of clothes he wore yesterday and put them back on, giving them a small sniff to make sure they didn't smell to bad before moving on and putting his boots on. He heard clothes rustling around and figured Esdeath was getting dressed as well.

The sun was still coming up and Esdeath's bedroom window looked out of the east side of the capital. The sight he saw made his heart swell in his chest.

No matter how many times he watched the sun rise and set it never failed to move him with its beauty. He saw a mixture of purples, pinks and blues in the clouds as the sun started to peek over the horizon.

He stood there for a moment letting the view set his mind at ease. He turned around only to see Esdeath staring at him with a curious expression on her face. It made him blush a little, being stared at so intently by her.

Putting his hand behind his head in a nervous gesture, he felt the need to explain himself for some reason, "I made it a habit over the years to watch the sun rise and set to collect myself and to prepare for whatever challenges that would present themselves to me."

Walking over to him, now dressed in her generals' uniform minus her cap she said, "There is nothing wrong with what you're doing Tatsumi, I used to do the same thing growing up, but mine was to simply to remind myself that I had not fallen to weakness and was strong enough once again to survive another day."

He looked over at her, curious, and wondered what kind of childhood she had lived to become who she is now.

"Would you tell me about your childhood?" He said.

She glanced at him with a blank face before a small smile formed on her lips, "I will one of these days, it's a story I don't like to think about to often, but since you and me will be together from now on you have the right to know my past." She said, moving away from him towards the double doors leading out of her room.

This made him even more curious about her, but he nodded his head all the same and followed her.

They made their way down to the shopping district and walked in and out of shops, picking up items he might need or want. The few people they came across completely avoided him as soon as they caught sight of Esdeath. She appeared happy and collected as she shopped with him, but her presence still warned of danger and even the street animals avoided her.

As the morning went on and purchases were made, they sat down for a bite to eat at Esdeath's encouragement.

She seemed to be in a good mood and was eagerly asking questions about him and his life and would even answer some of his questions about her life. The more he found out about her, the more uneasy he became. She was who she was because of her views on life and that bothered him on some fundamental level. He understood her outlook of the strong surviving over the weak, but she had little to no regard for those who she deemed weak and viewed it as another day's work when she took them down to her torture chambers to extract information from them.

As they sat down, a young waitress approached them with a charming smile on her face. He saw her look at Esdeath warily before turning to him with a smile on her face, "Welcome to the Boar's Head, can I start off by getting you something to drink?" she nervously said to Esdeath and him.

He gave his order and when he looked at Esdeath, what he saw there had him opening his eyes slightly. That's when he noticed how close to him the waitress was standing. She was clearly very nervous with the empire's strongest general was sitting in front of her and had moved closer to him until her thigh was brushing against his arm.

Esdeath was staring at the point of contact with a dangerous glint in her eyes.

Hoping to avoid whatever it was this situation was moving towards, he moved his hand across the table and brushed his fingers across hers in a show of affection, "Esdeath" he said her name with as calmly as he could.

She finally looked at him and then gave her order to the poor waitress who was on the verge of a nervous meltdown.

She watched the waitress move away and wrapped her fingers around his, "That was a new emotion that I have not experienced yet, and I will not tolerate it Tatsumi. I would take care to not touch or let others touch you unless you want them to die. Only the Jaegers will be permitted to have physical contact with you."

Seeing that she was completely serious he started to realize his position in her life and how his actions would affect others where Esdeath was concerned. He would have to be careful from now on. He would not let others suffer pointlessly because of Esdeath's jealousy.

Their drinks came, and their orders were placed. As they ate, Esdeath told him about her plans for the next few days. She would rotate the Jaegers between patrols here in the capital and training with her out in the mountains.

"I'll explain more when we meet up with the rest of the Jaegers. That's just my general plan of events, at least until we catch the whereabouts of Night Raid. I can't wait to get my hands on one of them and it's only a matter of time before they slip up." Esdeath said, leaning back in her chair.

' _If only you knew how close one was to you'_ He thought, the irony of the situation not lost on him. She was sleeping and sharing meals with one.

With the meal finished, they made their way back up to the palace to put his purchased items up in her room and to summon the rest of the Jaegers to the meeting hall.

"Tatsumi, before we head down, I want to give you something. I have had this prepared for a while now for when I had finally claimed a partner and it only seems appropriate to give it to you now since we will be moving into training soon and you don't have a weapon." Esdeath pulled something from her cabinet and when she handed him a package wrapped in cloth, he felt Erobus shift around in his mind, getting a feel for the package himself.

He unwrapped the cloth and uncovered a short sword about the same length as Incursio but significantly lighter. It was a simple looking short sword, but he could feel how well balanced it was. On the guard of the sword was her Teigu's symbol and the fuller of the sword was light blue color. He couldn't stop an appreciative smile from showing on his face as he ran a loving finger over the symbol and down the silver length of the blade.

' _This sword will come in handy. It is made of fine material indeed.'_ Erobus whispered to him.

"Thank you, Esdeath. I was going to ask for a simple blade, but I guess I won't have to with this." Tatsumi said looking back up at her.

Pleased with his expression she said, "You are welcome. Let's join the others now, I have the desire to see that blade in action."

Strapping the blade to his side Tatsumi followed Esdeath back down to the meeting hall he shared with the Jaegers. He still needed to find out how his and Leone's presence was found out. As far as he knew no one should know what they looked like and the fact that he had been able to walk around freely meant they still did not know what he looked like. His only option was to somehow contact Leone and figure out what she's been doing and then disperse the rumors.

Reaching the meeting hall, they all sat down with Tatsumi once again finding himself seated on Esdeath's lap and her wrapping her arms around him like a child hugging onto a teddy bear. Though it had only been a day he'd sadly started to get used to her clingy ways.

"With the rumors of Night Raid being in the capital, we will be performing patrols around the city while rotating around training. Mt. Valish is only a couple league away, so it won't be a problem for those who are patrolling to make it for training twice a day." Esdeath said, fully expecting some form of complaint about the grueling rotation. She was happy to see the desire in the faces of her Jaegers to train. She decided she would reward their dedication with slightly less physical pain and focus more on endurance.

"We have no missions for the time being and will focus our attention on the matter at hand. I will be splitting you up in teams of two, and the rest will follow me. Prepare what you think you will need to bring with you, we will be spending the rest of the week doing this rotation. Be ready to move out in 1 hour."

"Yes General." They all said in unison.

"Wave and Tatsumi you two will be the first on patrol. You will be relieved by Dr. Stylish and Seryu. Make sure you two join us as soon as you are relieved of your post."

After Esdeath and the rest of the Jaegers left for the training grounds she had set up for them Tatsumi found himself alone for the first time since being taken in by Esdeath. He should feel relief but something in him missed her presence. He had gotten used to feeling her presence over the last day and a half and now that it was gone, he felt somewhat uneasy. It was a similar feeling of having something taken from you then realizing you missed having it.

"I guess this is where we depart Tatsumi, if you find anything don't do anything hasty and try to find me. I will cover the north and east side, you get the west and south side." Wave said as he headed off.

"Will do" Tatsumi said going the opposite direction. He was pretty sure navigating through the streets would be his biggest obstacle, and searching for himself would do no good, so he would take this time to familiarize himself with his surroundings and try to find a way to contact Leone to figure out what was going on.

He spent some time just walking up and down the various streets and going in and out of shops, but something caught his attention. He felt a pressure run across his senses before a door connected to an unmarked building opened and he was pulled into it by a clothed arm.

"What th..." was all he was able to get out as another hand covered his mouth. The mysterious person was standing behind him pulling his body back into…two soft mounds?

As his mind was registering the sensation at his back, he heard a voice close behind him.

"Tatsumi, thank the gods your safe." A seductive voice said.

He turned his head smelling her unique scent before he saw her in the dim light.

"Leone!"

Winking at him she nuzzled her face against his neck and breathed in making him blush at her actions.

"I have been looking everywhere for you, but the word on the street is the empires strongest general has you now. I'm sure there is more to the story and you will tell me everything but let's head back to base before someone catches onto us. I have been a little busy and some old contacts have snitched me out."

Looking at her hesitantly he said, "Actually I am going to stay, I have been given the perfect chance to get intel on the corruption infesting the empire, Esdeath and her new group. Besides, it will be the perfect opportunity for the rebel forces to get an upper hand with the information I can gather."

' _That explains how they found out we are here.'_ He thought.

"Wait, if they snitched on you then that means they know who you are." He said.

"Not exactly. I have kept my identity hidden, so they don't know who I am other than the fact that I am a member of Night Raid." Leone said putting a hand behind her head and grinning at him.

"I can't say I agree with your decision to stay, but if you think you can pull this off and not get killed then the information you gather could definitely help us in a major way." She said

They talked for a while, catching each other up on everything that had been happening. When it was time to separate Leone approached him with a look on her face he could not read.

Taking a step forward she slowly brought her hand up to cup his face. He had grown taller over the many months they spent together so when she bent her head forward it was only a slight tilt of her head for her lips to touch his.

Leone had always followed her instincts and right now they were screaming at her to mark him in some way, even if she didn't completely know why, but the tightness in her chest had her obeying the internal command.

"Promise me you will stay safe Tatsumi, and make sure you come back to us. I will inform the others of your decision." She whispered against his lips then gave his lips a small lick.

Tatsumi could only stand there as she kissed him. He was used to Leone flirtatious ways, but she had never once made a move like this with him and it caught him off guard.

All he could do was look up at her as she backed away slowly. Her eyes were half closed, her cheeks were flushed a slight pink and her lips were a little swollen. It was a truly seductive view and one he never thought he would personally see from her or be the cause of, but he realized his body wasn't reacting the same to her as it did when Esdeath kissed him last night. Neither was his heart.

Keeping the frown from showing on his face at the path his thoughts had taken, he promised her he would do whatever it took to stay safe and come back to everyone in one piece when his mission was done.

Walking back out onto the street with more to think about, he couldn't help but wonder why she kissed him. Leone was like a sister to him. Could she view him as something more? Did he want her too? No, he couldn't entertain that thought, he had already lost so many of his closest friends and comrades. He couldn't let himself get that close to anyone if he had any hope of his heart not breaking any more than it already had. His relationship with Esdeath, however, was complicating his desires to stay unattached.

As he walked the streets, he kept thinking about Esdeath. She was gorgeous, seemed to care for him and want to be with him, she was stronger than anyone he had ever met and had a sense of loyalty to those in her protection that seemed at odds with everything he had ever heard about her. She was a ruthless killer that seemed to care about those in her protection, however, gave little thought to anyone she deemed weak and would walk over them without a second glance. Even still, he felt a strong pull to be near her. Like a moth drawn to a flame just waiting to get hurt. He felt pulled in a million different ways, logic telling him to not get involved, but his body and emotions telling him to reach for something he wasn't sure he was ready for.

Lost in his thoughts, he didn't see Seryu until she was standing in front of him holding her Teigu.

"Hey partner, it's time to switch." She said

"O... Okay" Tatsumi said, still not used to being in her presence.

"Wave is waiting for you at the entrance gates."

"Thanks." He said before jogging off. He wanted to get to training grounds, so he could burn this confusion off with some exercise and training.

Meeting up with Wave they chatted as they jogged in the direction of Mt. Valish. Wave was the closet to his age and his friendly attitude eased some of Tatsumi's emotions as they joked back and forth.

They reached their destination rather quickly and when they got there what they found had their mouths dropping opening.

Bols was frozen in place with only his chest and head free, Run was strapped to a tree by bands of ice, and Kurome was pinned down onto the ground with Esdeath sitting on top of her, seemingly pleased with her handiwork while she waited for Wave and Tatsumi to join them.

She had felt his presence well before she saw him and when she finally did see him her heart started to beat a little faster.

Waking up with him this morning was a glorious experience but seeing him again after a short amount of time away affected her just as much. With a blur of speed, she ran to his side and immediately stopped, smelling something different about him.

Eyes darkening a little, she leaned closer to his neck and gave a small sniff then moved her nose to his mouth and gave another sniff.

She smelled a woman on him, jerking her head as if struck she glared at him.

Hostility started coming off her in waves, scaring every one of them, no one knowing why her mood suddenly shifted.

' _Who would dare touch what belongs to me and why had he allowed it.'_ Esdeath thought.

Jealousy and anger swelling up in her chest she did the only thing she could think of that wouldn't hurt him or the Jaegers. She summoned a giant ice spear and hurled it into the trees, knocking everything in its path down as it flew out of sight.

Still not satisfied, she looked at him briefly then picked him up and threw him over her shoulder before sprinting off into the trees.

Panicked at this display of aggression, he realized she knew about the kiss Leone had given him somehow.

He needed to do damage control before she killed him.

"Esd-" He called out before he was tossed into a river. Coming up sputtering with water in his mouth he had enough time to clear the water from his eyes before he saw her.

"I told you I would not tolerate anyone else touching you, it seems like a lesson is in order here Tatsumi."

She had stripped out of everything but her bra and panties and was jumping into the river with him.

She swam to him with strong strokes of her arms and legs and when he was within arm's reach, she dragged him to her and sealed her lips over his. This was not the gentle kiss from last night, this was a kiss that destroyed common sense and reason. It was punishment just as much as it was sensual. Her hands were ripping his clothes open and tossing everything including his sword onto the rivers bank. Every bit of exposed skin was touched with her hands or her lips.

He felt lost to this assault on his senses, and his body was reacting to it in ways he had not expected. When he felt her teeth sink into his shoulder, his mind went blank and he howled in pain driving her excitement up even more.

Feeling pain didn't excite him but he was damn tired of trying to hide his lust for her and it seemed like she had had enough as well.

He grabbed her body and ripped his shoulder out of her mouth causing her teeth to scrape painfully against his skin, causing small trails of blood to seep down his skin. When he had her face in front of his he smashed his mouth against hers.

Not willing to let him have the upper hand she would show him who was the master and who was the servant in their relationship.

She thrust her tongue into his mouth exploring its depths and moaned at the taste of him. She needed more of him, she needed to mark him so that he knew who he belonged to.

She dug her fingernails into his back, leaving angry welts as they trailed across his skin.

Their mouths battled for supremacy, their tongues dueling but she soon won the match and gave his bottom lip a bite in victory.

Letting out a pained grunt, he reached up with a free hand and grabbed her breast roughly through the soaked fabric of her bra she had on, causing her to hiss with pleasure.

Lost in the sensation and pleasure she was giving him he let go of any embarrassment he might have had, realizing that with her it would do him no good to have it anymore and it would only cause him suffering in the long run to hold onto such childish expectations. He couldn't resist her anymore, and to be honest he was tired of the conflicting emotions he was constantly having and decided to put it aside and just enjoy this experience with her.

With his hand still on her bra he dragged the wet material up until her breasts were exposed to his touch and he once again let her large breast settle back into hands.

Moaning harder into his mouth as she felt his rough palm rubbing against her hardened nipples, she finally broke the kiss to let them both drag air into their lungs.

Gasping for breath, he looked into her eyes and got lost in her carnal beauty. He knew that she was dragging him down and this would change everything, but he just didn't care anymore.

Replacing his hands with his mouth, he glided his mouth over her skin until he had reached her nipples. Letting his tongue run gently over her nipples he could feel her shudder underneath his mouth and that gave him encouragement to be a little rougher.

Never had she let a man touch her, let alone in the way he was, but the feeling of his mouth rubbing against her sensitive nipples was almost too much for her to handle. She was supposed to be teaching him a lesson and showing him who he belonged to, not the other way around.

In a show of strength and dominance, she grabbed his arms and pushed him through the water until his back hit the banks edge and then angled her head to lick the water droplets from his face.

"You are mine and it would be best if you don't forget that." She said between licks, marking the spot where that woman's scent was the strongest with her tongue, wanting desperately to remove it from his body. She then laid her forehead gently against his, her hair falling around them blocking anything else but her from his view.

Reaching down between their bodies, she let her fingers graze over the bulge in his pants before stripping them off as well.

Taking him in her hand she gently glided her hand up and down on him causing him to hiss between his teeth and buck gently underneath her.

This experience with him was as new to her as it was to him, but due to her line of work she knew a lot about the male anatomy and how it reacted to certain stimulation's. Right now, she was drawing on every bit of experience she had to make him react in ways that told her he was hers now.

"Esdeath" Was the only thing he could say in this moment, and the hidden plea was not lost to her as she rose up on her knees and guided him to the place that would bind them together before slowly sitting down on him.

Gasping in unison with her, he gripped her waist as she sat down fully on top of him.

The feeling of him inside her had every one of her senses in a raging inferno. As she adjusted to his length inside her she started to move her hips and couldn't stop from crying out in pleasure as ecstasy washed over her in waves.

They stayed like that for a long time as she let her body teach him who it belonged to and after she had them both gasping and spent, she finally felt satisfied.

This wasn't originally about her receiving pleasure, this was about him understanding that he was hers and only hers, but the outcome was the same and the dynamic of their relationship had shifted into something more. She was his just as much now and she would never let him go.

In a display of affection, he wrapped his arm around her waist and shifted closer to her as she gently ran her fingers through his damp hair. They laid there and let the sun warm their still wet bodies as he came to terms with what had happened.

He had just made a big mistake - one he was sure would not be overlooked by the others - but what was done was done and he honestly had no regrets. He had felt a weird pull to her from the very beginning and now that pull was even stronger. By the way she had him pressed strongly against her naked body, she felt it too.

"We should get back." He said against her chest.

Sighing softly, she touched the tips of her fingers to the black crescent moon mark on his chest, "You are right we should."

"Tatsumi"

Chuckling lightly, he said "I know, I am yours"

Leaning forward she gave his face a small sniff and smiled in pleasure as she now only smelled her scent on him. In fact, her scent was all over him and that pleased her even more. She had wanted to move forward in their relationship together and now it looked like they had. It was still the beginning, but it was going in the right direction.


End file.
